


Serendipity

by writeanddontstop



Category: Bucky Barnes - Fandom, James "Bucky" Barnes - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29126208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeanddontstop/pseuds/writeanddontstop
Summary: Winter ‘Winnie’ Monroe is a well known and very loved hairdresser at the Nobel Elegance Hair Salon in Brooklyn. One day, she meets her new neighbor Bucky during a slightly unfortunate event and she cannot help herself, but to be intrigued by him. The two of them slowly grow pretty fond of one another, even to a point where Winnie would consider them friends. However, when she has to go back to Eugene, Oregon for a family gathering, she asks if Bucky wants to come and pretend to be her fake boyfriend. Her slightly senile grandfather however seems to recognize Bucky and why does Winnie think he might be right?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Asian Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Winnie Monroe
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I might’ve cut my own hair, but I am in no way a hairdresser. My only resource/experience is watching Brad Mondo videos every now and then lol.

Normally, I wouldn’t stay at work till six p.m., but when two lovely young ladies come to the hair salon to get their hair done for their double date, you honestly think I’m gonna say goodbye and leave? I mean, just because I cannot seem get someone crazy enough to go on a date with me, does not necessarily mean I can’t indirectly enjoy the whole giddiness during the preparation of a date with some high school girls.

When they walked into the salon, they were beauties already, however they turned into absolute visions when Julie and I were done with their hair. We even retouched their make-up a bit. If they don’t get that second date, I’m gonna find those guys and kick their asses for being stupid.

This is not the first time something like this happens. People come in all the time, hoping we can revamp their looks before dates, an important work meeting and sometimes to meet their in-laws for the first time. I love changing up looks and enjoy it with all my heart, but it’s the rewards in the form of glimmering eyes and happy smiles that make me never get sick of this job.

I drop my bag on the floor as I enter my apartment and let out a deep sigh. I think tonight calls for a nice self care night. I’ve had a self care night yesterday, but with the hectic day I had, I can use it again. It’s not everyday I need to save someone’s hair from a bleaching job gone _horribly_ wrong.

That poor woman’s scalp.

I kick off my shoes and quickly rush to the kitchen, where I heat up some water in a kettle. It’s actually a gift from my mom. She gave it to me when I first moved out. She swore that a kitchen is not complete without a kettle. Besides, if I would heat up my water in the microwave, I think she would have aneurism without knowing why.

I grab some ramen and normally I would go out of my way to make something out of it, but today, just ramen will do. Besides, what’s a self care night without it?

Okay, maybe this is the third time in a row I’ve eaten this as dinner this week, because I’m too lazy to actually cook, but we will ignore that fact for now.

After I poured some hot water on the ramen and wait for it to be done, I sit at the little table I have in the kitchen for moments like these. I grab the picture frame and smile as I look at the picture. I think I’m about seven years old here, sitting on my father’s lap, as mom stands behind us and has wrapped her arms tightly around me.

They raised me in Eugene, Oregon. I was the only child of Raine and Harold Monroe. They were high school sweethearts and after they got married at around twenty five, they wanted to start a family. Dad told me once they wanted a large family, because he grew up in one. He had four brothers, while mom grew up alone. The sheer joy of having multiple kids running around, was a dream for both of them.

However, they had difficulties conceiving and after careful consideration and saving, they adopted me from China when I was a year old. It was hard to grow up in a place where everyone, including my entire family was white, but despite that, I never had an issue and for that I know I am extremely lucky. While it went paired with multiple embarrassing events, my parents went out of their way to give me tons of opportunities for me to reconnect with my Chinese roots. Though it being humiliating from time to time, it’s the thought and effort they put into it that counts.

They have always been supportive of me. When school and I didn’t necessarily go hand in hand, they helped me through the most important parts of high school. Things they thought I should master, while constantly reminding me to follow my heart and my dreams, no matter how bizarre it seemed.

If I truly wanted it and I work hard enough for it, everything could be possible for me to achieve.

When I was very young, my ultimate dream was to become the next pop star people all over the world would come to adore. However I chickened out right before the start of not one, not two, but three different recitals and I didn’t need my parents to tell me that being in the spotlight performing was not the goal I should have in life.

Quickly I proceeded onto my next goal in life: becoming a hairdresser, a job that would fit me better. Ever since I was a young kid, I was busy styling not only my hair, but also the hairs of my friends and especially my mom’s hair, since she had loads of it and didn’t mind me trying out different hairstyles.

Maybe it helped that I was their only child. Maybe it helped I tended to think I could achieve anything I wanted, even _without_ the help of my parents. Maybe it helped my parents were quite the free spirited people and just wanted me to be happy.

I let my thumb run over the wooden frame dad made for me. Being on the other coast is difficult sometimes, but thankfully I seem to manage fine around 95 percent of the time.

Besides, I’m thirty years old, I don’t need mommy and daddy accompanying me all the time.

It’s only when the ramen is done, when I realize how hungry I actually was and start eating it in the kitchen. Eating ramen in the amounts I’m doing, is a habit I picked up as soon as I set foot in Brooklyn. My parents were all about the dehydrated food and chickpeas when I was younger and still are. While they let me try all the foods I wanted growing up and let me develop my own taste in what I liked and disliked (thus preparing other food for me, than for themselves), I’m sure they would hate to see how I’ve been devouring instant ramen like it’s the last thing I’ll ever eat. Thankfully, I am a grown woman, capable of making my own decisions and if my mom finds out and doesn’t like it, I’m not afraid for a little confrontation with my mom.

Okay, that is not true, but she isn’t around, she’ll never find out.

After I finished my _healthy_ dinner, I quickly change into my flannel pajama pants with matching long sleeved shirt and I put on my pink thick bathrobe so I won’t freeze my ass off. It’s February and it’s colder than I think I have ever experienced Brooklyn and I’ve lived here for quite a few years. I remove my make-up and put on a mask, before I clean up my bedroom. While I love my job, being at home is my all time favorite thing to do.

When my skincare is done and my bed is ready for me whenever I want to go to bed, I fetch myself a nice glass of red wine and plop on the couch. I turn on the television and end up in the rabbit hole of really bad programs on TLC, that you simply have to watch once you start.

Tomorrow is another long day at the salon, but after that, I have not one day off, but two entire days of not working. I could really use them, if I’m being honest.

I envision on how I’m going to spend these days and first and foremost, I’m going to sleep in. I’m the worst morning person I have ever met and sleeping in would be an absolute relief. After I slept in, I could make bake something, long strolls through some parks, enjoy the February breeze, seeing the starts of spring blossoming every so often and during that stroll, I’ll definitely buy some flowers. I love flowers, especially if they are mainly pink and—

A loud noise interrupts my thoughts. _What on earth was that?_

I sit up a bit straighter, stretching out my neck, as if that enhances my hearing. I try to detect what that noise was. Is someone dying? It sounded a bit strained. Should I call the emergency servi—

Okay, no, never mind. No one is dying.

A loud female moan fills my apartment and I let out a deep sigh. I thought I had a single man living next door. Did he bring back a date or is he listening to porn at an inappropriate volume?

I hear the squeaking of a bed frame, followed by the banging of the headboard against the wall. Oh my, he is having legit sex and it’s almost like I’m there in the room as well. I never knew those walls were this thin.

Good thing I’m not the type of woman who turns on songs like ‘I’m Walking On Sunshine’ on full blast as she cleans up her living room and singing along, whilst sounding like a dying cat.

How long is this gonna last? I stare at my television and yank up the volume, hoping it will dissolve the terrible noise.

However, once you hear it, there is no possibility you can simply mute it, though that would be so lovely now.

Okay, yes, I cannot take this anymore. I don’t know how long he is gonna last or how many rounds they have in store, but I cannot listen to these high pitched female moans and male grunts.

Who even makes these sounds? Are they making porn or something?

I get up from my couch and while I’m closing my bathrobe, I slip on some fuzzy pink slippers, a pair that matches perfectly with my pajama and robe.

Normally the man in 214 is not bothering me. I’m lucky I have two neighbors who are very low key and make living in 213 not a living hell. But mister 214 decides to spice things up and I’m not having it.

How dare they even? It’s ten in the fucking evening, there are people who would like to have a good night sleep in.

Or watch an entire season of the Nanny, like I was planning as soon as this episode of ’90 day fiancé’ was done.

Whatever you want to do, it doesn’t need to be accompanied by moans and other bedroom related sounds.

I march over to door 214, only to see someone walk out of apartment 215. His brows are furrowed and a deep brown between them indicates he is not too happy about the noise either. We both stop in front of door 214.

I didn’t know this piece of eye candy was living in 215.

I feel like I should say something, since we’re both about to knock on the door of our loud neighbor. ‘Not enjoying the free porn show either?’ I ask him.

Okay, yeah, you shouldn’t say that, I think to myself. There are tons of ways to address this current and slightly unfortunate situation and this was not it.

The man, whose brown hair is around shoulder length, but in desperate need of a trim, simply stares at me, his gorgeous light blue eyes indicating he is trying to figure out if I really just asked him that.

Understandably so, because I’m doing the exact same thing.

Instead, he knocks on the door with his right hand. The moans and bed shaking come to an abrupt stop. The man beside me lets out a deep sigh, as if he is wondering what he should do next.

While I feel he has this entire situation under control, I can’t seem to tear myself back to my own room.

‘What?’ the annoyed voice of our shared neighbor sounds from behind the door.

‘Could you knock it off, please?’ I ask. ‘I don’t want to hear your sexual escapades.’

It’s very silent from apartment 214 and I think for tonight, we might’ve made our point and won our case.

I open my mouth to say something to the man who lives in 215, but he simply walks off and closes his door.

❀ ❀ ❀

‘No way,’ Julia, one of my friends and colleagues at Nobel Elegance exclaims when we’re on our break. While I only have one minute left, Julia just started her break and has around fifteen minutes of no haircuts. Since I barely had time to brief her about last night events before work, this one minute will do. ‘That disgusting human being of a neighbor of yours had sex? Why him and not us? What are we doing wrong, Winnie?’

‘If only I knew his secret,’ I say. ‘I don’t even remember the last time I had sex, or even kissed a guy.’

‘Your last bedroom activity was seven years ago,’ Julia answers. ‘And I think it was three years ago since you had your last kiss.’

I stare at her blankly. ‘Julia, that was a rhetorical question,’ I hiss. ‘Great, now I feel even more miserable, thanks for that.’

I mean, it’s obviously not my choice to be thirty and single. I’d like to say I have high standards, but the truth is: everyone who might be slightly interesting to me, is either taken or just wants a one night stand. I don’t want that anymore. I want to get to know someone, to bond and connect on a deeper level.

It’s just that I can’t seem to find someone in Brooklyn who wants to do that with me.

‘But,’ I say, ‘I met another neighbor last night. He lives in apartment 215.’

‘Oh,’ Julia says, wiggling her eyebrows. ‘Was he hot?’

A knock on the door interrupts our very important conversation. Our grumpy boss who tells us to call him ‘Mister Asher’ stands in the door opening. ‘Miss Winter Monroe, your break is over, just like your chitter chat. There is someone for you to cut.’

Ugh, I hate him.

‘Thanks for the reminder,’ I deadpan.

Julia scrunches up her nose. ‘Not fair,’ she mutters, ‘you were gonna tell me about your neighbor.’

‘Sorry,’ I say, ‘but enjoy your break.’ I slip passed mister Asher back into the salon. While Nobel Elegance is an amazing work place with lovely co-workers, the owner mister Asher is a nightmare to work with. He took over the salon from his grandmother a few years ago and thankfully he is usually in the back, not bothering us.

Today however, he decides to wander around the salon the entire time. He does that around two times every month and those days are the absolute worse, having him breathing down our necks the entire time and giving us “useful tips” right in front of our clients, making us look incapable.

I walk over to my chair, as I roll a cart along with me. Someone is already sitting on the chair and the closer I get to my work station, the more familiar the customer seems. ‘Hello neighbor,’ I say to him, as I stand behind him, folding out a clean cloak.

The same man from yesterday, neighbor 215, looks into the mirror and blinks his eyes a few times. ‘Neighbor,’ he says in a low voice.

I cover him with the cloak and as I’m securing the buttons, I say: ‘I’m Winnie.’

I usually introduce myself with the nickname my grandpa gave me, instead of my full name ‘Winter’. My mom thought of that name and it feels a bit try hard if I’m being honest, But it doesn’t really surprise me she chose that name.

I mean, her name is Raine, enough said.

He averts his eyes from the mirror and removes an imaginary thread from his jeans. ‘Bucky.’

‘That’s a lovely name,’ I say. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. What can I do for you today, Bucky?’

_Please say that I can at least trim the ends._

‘Just a little trim.’

I think thanking the universe is a bit too much, but I’m considering it. ‘Can be arranged. That’s all?’

He nods.

I grab the spray bottle and moisten his hair. I comb through is long brown locks with a thin comb. Despite the ends being a bit dead and dry, I do have to admit he has very luscious locks.

‘You have beautiful hair,’ I admit.

Neighbor Bucky doesn’t gracefully take the compliment, but I think he is not the type of man who would turn giddy and whisper a soft ‘thank you’ while blushing.

‘How much do you want off the ends?’ I ask.

‘How much necessary.’

Okay, a man of few words, I think to myself. I mean, yesterday made that pretty clear, but now I can’t ignore the obvious. I start dividing his hair into sections, so I can easily cut it.

‘So, you had a good sleep after 214 stopped his adventures last night?’ I ask him.

He shrugs.

‘Well,’ I continue, ‘I know I slept terribly. It was almost like I was waiting to be woken up again, you know what I mean?’ I cut off the dead ends of one strand of hair and it amazes me how that strand already looks better than the rest.

And yes, I’ve been a hairdresser for ten years and _that_ still amazes me.

‘Mhm.’

‘So, how long have you lived in the apartment? I don’t think I have ever seen you before, besides yesterday?’

‘Three weeks ago.’ He looks up into the mirror, meeting my eyes, before looking away again.

Is there a way to maintain a conversation with this man? Probably not. Sometimes clients don’t want to talk and I figure this is one of those clients. I add some layers to his hair, so it has a little bit more volume. This is such an easy trim to do, but it’s nice to have easy trims every now and then. I mean, I spot a tricky balayage job sitting on the couch, waiting for me to do wonders with her hair.

I blow dry Bucky’s hair and once I’m done, I pull out a round mirror to hold behind him. ‘How does it look?’ I ask.

‘Good.’

_Wow Winnie, my hair looks so much better than it did before. You honestly perform miracles once you have that scissor in your hand. How can I thank you? Some flowers? A nice dinner?_

No? None of that?

I help him out of the cloak and we walk to the register. While I log into the system, I see him pull out his card from his back pocket. Before I can even think about it, I say: ‘You know what, this is on me.’

He seems surprised. ‘What?’ he asks. ‘I don’t have to pay?’

I shake my head. ‘Nope, see it as a ‘welcome to your new apartment’-gift from me.’

Bucky frowns and blinks his eyes, before one corner of his mouth curls up for a bit. It barely lasts a whole second, but I know what I saw and to be fair, I don’t think that tiny smirk will leave my daydreams today. ‘Thank you, Winnie.’

Hearing my name leave his lips, makes me smile. He nods briefly, before leaving the salon.

‘Who was hottie with the long hair?’ Julie asks, who comes to stand next to me.

I chuckle. ‘That is my other neighbor. Hot guy from 215.’

Her mouth drops and I feel she wants to ask more questions, only I simply send her a wink and walk off. ‘Miss Gina?’ I ask. ‘Are you ready for your balayage?’


	2. Chapter 2

On the first day of my two days off, I decide to go to the farmers market for some groceries. The markets are nothing compared to the ones back in Eugene, but despite it being a whole lot smaller, the ambience always reminds me of home. My parents were very picky when it came to food, either buying it directly from farms or markets like this one. If I wanted something from the grocery store, I had to get it myself. Now, I’m usually in the supermarket, because they provide me with stuff I feel like I need, but wandering over the cobblestones as I’m passing all different types of stands, is a great reminder of home.

I already bought some broccoli and bok choy, so I now wander around and a fruit stand pulls me in like a magnet. There is only one other person there, so I can be helped immediately. ‘Hi there,’ I say, ‘can I have around ten of these apples?’

‘Sure thing, sugar,’ the man behind the stand says, already grabbing a large brown paper bag.

‘Ten apples?’ I hear a voice next to me say. ‘What are you going to do with ten?’

That’s the most words I’ve heard this particular man say in one sitting, ever since I met him. I look to my left side, only to be greeted by my neighbor Bucky. ‘I was thinking about making some apple pies,’ I say. ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but were you mocking me?’

Bucky cocks an eyebrow, as I pay the man behind the stand. He hands me the brown bag filled with apples and I put it in my large shopper.

However, I might have underestimated the weight of ten apples, because all of the sudden, the shopper is a whole lot heavier than a few seconds ago.

‘Please,’ Bucky says, ‘let me help you.’

I let him take over my shopper, but I can’t help and ask: ‘But what if you run off with my apples, broccoli and bok choy?’

‘I wouldn’t know what to do with it,’ he admits and I’m not sure if he means it or not. ‘I’m more of a… Plum guy myself.’ He holds up his own brown bag and I let out a chuckle. ‘Besides, you know exactly where to find me.’

‘That’s true, 2-1-5. Do you need something else from the farmers market?’

He shakes his head. ‘No, I got all I need.’

‘Just plums?’ I ask him.

‘Just plums,’ he confirms. ‘What about you?’

‘I just need to go to one more stand, so if you’re in a hurry…’

‘I have all the time in the world.’ Bucky looks at me and adds: ‘Winnie.’

Him simply saying my name, shouldn’t make me this giddy, nor should it make me all of the sudden make me like my name a whole lot more.

_But it sure does._

We walk over to the flower stand and Gil, the man who owns it, smiles brightly when he notices me. ‘Finally, I was wondering when you were gonna pay me a visit.’

‘I would never leave you hanging like this,’ I chuckle.

‘Some pink flowers for little miss Winnie, am I right?’

‘You know the way to my heart, Gil, thank you.’ As Gil gets to work, I turn to Bucky, whose eyes are scanning every flower. ‘I buy flowers here every two weeks,’ I say.

‘Why?’

Interesting question, I have to give him that. ‘They remind me of spring,’ I say. ‘And home.’

Bucky nods, but doesn’t get time to respond to it, because Gil clears his throat to gain our attention. ‘I already started something for you, because I just sensed you would come here. How about this?’ he asks me.

I let out a gasp. ‘I love it, Gil,’ I say, as I admire the bouquet. Soft pink and white flowers, with green decorations in between. ‘How much is it?’

‘The usual three dollars.’

I want to grab my purse, only Bucky is way ahead of me, because he hands Gil three dollars. Gil wants to say something about this—I can see it in his eyes—but I hold up the bouquet and say: ‘Thanks Gil, I will see you next time.’

He understands that I do not want to expound on this matter and simply holds up his hand as Bucky and I walk away from the flower stand. We wander over the market, before I say: ‘Thank you for the flowers. It’s always nicer when someone else buys it for you. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.’

Bucky looks at me sideways. ‘No one has ever bought you flowers before?’

‘No,’ I softly admit, ‘but that’s beside the point. It’s just nice when someone buys you something. Flowers, food, gifts, you name it.’

‘Ah, I see.’

‘So, please allow me to pay for your plums next time.’

Then I see it. A real and genuine smile from Bucky. ‘Maybe.’

I need to be hooked on ventilator asap, goodness me. Is it even allowed to look like this? ‘You’re handsome when you smile.’ It leaves my lips before I can even stop myself. Shit, that is not what you tell people, especially when you just met. No wonder you have been single all your life, Winter Monroe. How long have you known him? ‘You know what,’ I quickly add, ‘forget I said that. I’m terribly sorry. I… You know… I mean… For someone who is a hairdresser and chats with people all the time, I have issues communicating with people _outside_ of the salon. I don’t know what that is about. I think it’s some sort of communicating defect.’

Bucky isn’t saying anything at all and now I fear he is planning an escape. I mean, I wouldn’t blame him, let’s just hope he drops my apples, broccoli and bok choy.

‘I’ll let it slide just this time,’ he jokingly says.

He is making fun of me? Well, it’s better than just ditching, which I would’ve understand as well. ‘Oh, how gracious of you,’ I chuckle. ‘Let me make it up to you.’

‘No, you don’t need to,’ he starts.

‘I really do,’ I interrupt him. ‘You like apple pie, Bucky?’

He shrugs. ‘I had an okay one once before, but I don’t really know,’ he says. ‘Why?’

‘Well, maybe you want some of my apple pie. It’s not as great as my mom’s, nor my grandma’s, but… As long as you have never tasted theirs before, mine is pretty good.’

‘I wouldn’t mind that at all,’ he says with a smile.

❀ ❀ ❀

It turns out, Bucky is useless in the kitchen. When I asked him to crack three eggs, he just froze and stared at the three eggs in front of him. After that, I learned I have to carefully instruct him for everything, but it’s almost endearing seeing a grown man freeze up when he’s in the kitchen. But thankfully I had a better job for him. Since I don’t have an electrical mixer anymore (mine might have overheated a bit a few weeks ago), I have to use a whisk, but I have little to no strength in my arms. Baking one pie, results in sore muscles the next day.

But now I have Bucky and he didn’t seem to mind.

The pie is in the oven and we both plop on a chair around the tiny kitchen table. Being the nice neighbor I am, I have provided him a cup of tea and some biscuits.

‘What is that thing?’ He points to the pink hot pot I have in the corner of my kitchen counter.

‘A hot pot,’ I say. ‘You fill it with soup and you can put all sorts of stuff in it. Meat, noodles, vegetables. It’s kinda like fonduing, only different. Obviously it’s different, because then it would be a fondue, not a hot pot.’

Yes and now the verbal diarrhea can stop, Winnie.

It almost looks like Bucky doesn’t seem to care of the word vomit that left my lips. ‘How did you learn to make it?’

‘Well, YouTube actually. I was adopted from China and grew up in a pretty white neighborhood and family. When you have my dad whose mission in life it is to—intentionally or unintentionally—embarrass me, you figure out pretty early on it’s for the best to just learn stuff through YouTube. Or just trial and error of course.’

‘You were adopted?’

I nod. ‘Yeah, when I was one.’ I wrap my fingers around the hot mug, only to discover Bucky frowning. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ he quickly says, ‘just realized I never met someone before who was adopted.’

‘Glad to be the first then,’ I say. I lean back in the chair when I frown and add: ‘Actually, I never met someone who was adopted, besides myself of course.’

Bucky smiles and when he smiles, he looks so much more approachable and nice. And while I say stupid stuff the entire time, I don’t feel nervous around him, which is weird, because that doesn’t happen to me a lot. Feeling this at ease with someone who lets me in so little. A person so closed, yet so approachable.

‘Where did you grow up?’ he asks.

‘Eugene, Oregon,’ I say. ‘I know, I’m a long way from home.’

He nods. ‘You managed to do pretty well,’ he admits. ‘Working in a salon like the Nobel Elegance, must mean you are quite talent.’

‘Maybe,’ I shyly say. ‘Just waiting for the raise in my pay grade, so I can update this slightly sleazy apartment for something… _Bouche_.’

‘You’ll get there,’ he says, not tearing his eyes away from the bouquet of flowers he bought for me.

‘What about you? What brought you to Brooklyn?’

‘Change of scenery,’ Bucky answers my question. ‘I was actually born in Brooklyn, but moved around a lot. I traveled quite a bit for my job.’

‘And now?’

‘I’m mostly staying at home, very boring,’ he says, shaking his head. ‘It’s not nearly as fun as being a hairdresser, I can guarantee you that. Besides, I don’t want to bore you to death with tedious details.’

The sound of my timer rings through the kitchen, before I can even tell him he wouldn’t bore me to death, no matter what he tells me. I stand up, grab an oven mitt and take the hot and lovely smelling pie out of the oven. ‘My grandma from my dad’s side taught my mom the recipe, since she thought that every female Monroe should know how to make this specific apple pie. It’s just that my grandma only had sons, so she taught all her daughter’s in-law. And my mom taught me right before I left Eugene.’

Bucky gets up from the chair and stands next to me. He is quite a bit taller than me, but yet I’m not intimidated. I’m oddly at ease actually. ‘It looks good,’ he admits.

‘Could you maybe grab two plates? Otherwise I have to get a stool, because I can’t reach.’

‘You have to use a stool to reach stuff?’ Bucky asks.

‘Oh, don’t give me that,’ I chuckle. ‘Just grab the damn plates.’

He reaches up and grabs two plates, while I cut the pie.

‘Whipped cream?’ I ask him. ‘I mean, pie without whipped cream is barely a justified pie, right?’

‘I will have to take your word on that one.’

I rummage through my fridge, before I manage to find the whipped cream. After I decorated the plates a little, I slide his plate to him. ‘Bon appetite,’ I say. ‘Remember, it can be hot, so make sure you— Oh my God, Bucky, what are you doing?’

Bucky puts a pretty large piece of pie and some whipped cream in his mouth. I am waiting for the moment where he spits it out, because it’s burning his palate, his tong and the insides of his cheeks, but he simply chews and swallows. ‘Wow, really good, Winnie.’

‘Are you okay?’ I ask him.

Why is he looking at me funny? ‘Yes, why wouldn’t I be?’

‘Because the pie is really hot,’ I say. ‘And normally don’t like to burn their mouths. Is yours okay?’

His eyes enlarge a tiny bit, after he ditched the confused look in his eyes. ‘Yeah, I’m okay,’ he says.

‘Are you even real?’ I ask him with a chuckle. ‘I once ate a dumpling that was fresh out of the pan and I think I still feel the burns from that time to time.’

‘My tolerance when it comes to heat is…’ Bucky simply shrugs as he is not finishing his thoughts and I frown deeply. ‘I’m okay, Winnie, really.’

‘If you say so. I do have to admit, it’s very impressive. I have some hot sauce in the fridge and some shot glasses. Maybe if we fill one of those, we can see whether or not you have a tolerance for that as well.’

Bucky lets his tongue run over his bottom lip, almost as if he is hiding his amusement. ‘We’ll see about that.’

I simply stare at him for a while, his blue eyes hiding a world of memories and secrets. While he is concealing what’s going on in his mind, he cannot camouflage the hurt and the pain.

I wonder what caused it.

‘Can I ask another question? And this is not food related or about your weird tolerances.’

He nods.

‘Why are you wearing a glove inside?’ I ask him, nodding towards his gloved left hand. Come to think of it, when we were here, he has been explicitly standing on my left side, so I wouldn’t be able to see it.

As if he is caught, he pushes his gloved hand in his pocket. ‘What?’

‘Don’t pretend I’m stupid,’ I say to him. ‘It’s just a question.’

Bucky takes a deep breath. ‘It’s just… I had an accident. It has some distinctive and ugly scarring, so I’d rather not show it.’ He seems really uncomfortable and looks everywhere, but to me. And then he softly adds: ‘Not when we just met.’

❀ ❀ ❀

Bucky left my place around three in the afternoon and I think it only took me five minutes to sneak out of my apartment and go back to the farmers market. Maybe I’m too big of a try hard, but it’s nice to have a friendly neighbor, instead of that socially awkward sex machine living in 214 and the senile lady with her grumpy husband in 212.

After I bought some plums, I hid myself in my kitchen again and decided to—for the first time ever—make a plum pie. I read around seven different recipes and I watched quite a few YouTube videos, which obviously makes me qualified enough to make a plum pie.

While I’m not the biggest fan of this fruit, I do have to admit: this pie looks exquisite.

It may be one of my better creations.

I know for a fact that Bucky is still at home, because I actually saw him siting in front of his window when I got back and he waved at me when he saw me walking towards the building. I place the pie on one of my prettier plates, before I grab some of my stationary, so I can write a note for him.

_Dear Bucky,_

_I never made plum pie before, but since you are more of a—and I quote—plum type of guy, I decided I would try it out. I know you prefer literal fresh out of the oven pie, so I’m sorry it’s not as hot as you would like. If it’s disgusting, please let me know. If you love it, please let me know as well. If you accidentally die because it’s poisonous, know I didn’t do it on purpose. I actually quite like you as a neighbor._

_Winnie_

I write my phone number underneath my name and with the pie in my hand, I quietly open my apartment door. I walk to apartment door 215 and place the plate on the floor. I knock on his door, before rushing back inside into my own apartment. I hear his door opening and even a soft chuckle.

My phone vibrates in my back pocket because of a text message of a number I didn’t save in my phone, but I instantly know who it is.

**Unknown:** Thank you, Winnie. It looks delicious.

I save his number and not long after I did that, I receive yet another message.

**Bucky:** I can report that it not only looks delicious, but also tastes delicious.


	3. Chapter 3

These last two weeks, I might’ve made four plum pies, despite still not liking them at all. I might’ve also spend a lot of time with Bucky at my apartment after work. Usually I would eat my dinner by myself, spend the nights alone mindlessly watching television, but Bucky comes over a lot and I don’t think I have watched any TLC program.

And to be fair, they are a waste of time anyways.

I mostly show him how to make a pie and how to cook in general. I saw the man attempting to make a pancake the other night and it might’ve been the most horrendous thing I have ever seen. It tasted okay, but that was mainly because I made the batter.

At this point, I might even consider him more than a neighbor or an acquaintance. I might even consider him a friend, though we haven’t specifically spoken about that.

‘What is up with you?’ Julia asks. ‘You have this sickening smile on your face.’

I help clean up a bit in the salon, but that’s more because I’m waiting to be picked up. My bus doesn’t drive today and especially since I stayed here way passed my usual work hours, it’s pretty dark outside. It was really stressful today here in the salon. Since Chrissy is the only one here in the salon who knows how to do a silk press, I had to take over some of her appointments, since she had to fix a botched at home silk press. On top of that, I had to do some highlights, fix do-it-at-home-bangs for some girl who was really out of it and had three ombré hairstyles to do.

‘Nothing,’ I say. ‘Can’t a girl smile anymore?’

‘I bet this has to do with her handsome neighbor Bucky,’ Chrissy says, who has been thoroughly briefed by Julia. They even watched back the _security_ footage, so they could see what he looked like again.

‘Oh, does it now?’ Julia chuckles. Me not saying anything, is enough for them to burst into high pitched squeals. ‘You two are so into each other, it’s endearing,’ Julia adds.

‘No, stop it,’ I say. ‘We are not into each other. We’re just friends.’

‘We’re just friends,’ Julia mocks. ‘I can’t believe you believe that.’

While I obviously think he is ridiculously handsome, with those long locks and really blue eyes, I highly doubt he sees me the same way. I think he just likes to hang out with me, so he isn’t by himself and because I cook and bake stuff for him. Besides, why would he be attracted to me, when it’s crystal clear he can have anyone he wants?

‘You even cook for the man,’ Chrissy laughs.

While I want to add that I only _occasionally_ cook for him, Julia’s loud laugh filled the entire hair salon as she doubles over. ‘Oh my, girl, you know what they say right? Nothing says lovin’ like something from the oven.’

‘It worked for my parents and they are still together,’ Chrissy says. ‘Didn’t he buy you three bouquets of flowers?’

 _Yes_. ‘No,’ I say, but even I’m not convinced. I’ll just keep to myself that the three bouquets he bought me, were the most beautiful bouquets I had ever gotten.

Julia and Chrissy try not to laugh right in my face at me, but they simply cannot contain themselves. I mean, I don’t blame them and if we’re really honest here, I kinda deserved it. I pestered Chrissy for days on end when she was talking to this guy on Tinder and when he picked her up for their first date, I was even worse than they are right now. ‘You’re terrible,’ I tell them and I mean every syllable of it.

The door of the salon opens and we all look up as if we’re one person. Bucky enters the salon and he looks illegally handsome today. Despite the nasty cold outside, his leather jacket is unzipped, revealing his favorite red Henley. His lips form into a smile when his eyes land on me. ‘Hi Winnie,’ he says. ‘Hi ladies.’

They simply hold up their hand as they almost reached a catatonic state.

‘Are you ready to go?’ he asks me, after he looks away from them and frowns at me for just a second.

‘I sure am,’ I say, as I hand the broom to Julia, whose jaw is nearly dislocated as its almost touching the floor. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ I whisper.

‘I forgot how handsome he was in real life,’ she whispers back.

Chrissy blinks her eyes, as she visibly gawks at Bucky.

I grab my coat from the counter and as I put it on, I say to my friends: ‘See you girls tomorrow.’

They remain awfully quiet as I grab my bag. Bucky and I walk out of the salon and I’m met with an ice cold wind. It’s almost like the air is biting my face. It’s officially March now and while this morning it was okay weather, the second the night fell, you could almost see it getting insanely cold.

And my weird neighbor has his jacket open… What the hell is wrong with him?

‘Thank you for picking me up,’ I say. ‘When I read about the busses not driving today, I panicked, to be honest.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Well, I’m afraid of getting into cabs, because I fear I might step into a phony one and without a doubt would die, because that is something that would happen to me. And while I can easily walk home, I mean, I did it this morning, I just… It’s scary and I don’t do well in the dark.’

‘Well, it’s no problem,’ he says. ‘I can pick you up as long as the busses don’t drive. Just let me know.’

‘Oh, would you? You sure that’s not a problem?’

‘If it were a problem, I wouldn’t have suggested. Besides, I would hate it if something happens to my favorite cook.’

‘Shut up,’ I chuckle, causing him to snicker as well.

During these weeks we’ve hung out, I really enjoyed it. We watched tons of series and movies and he hadn’t seen any of them, which I thought was slightly weird. However, since everyone I know has seen all those movies, they know the plot twists. Seeing Bucky react to them for the first time, makes it even funnier.

While he can be pretty private from time to time, he slowly lets me in. It can differ from something as basic as the weather, plans for the summer to just our thoughts in general about actualities or whatever.

‘You ready for you first hot pot experience?’ I ask him.

‘As ready as I can ever be. I bought some radish and Enoki mushrooms before I picked you up.’ He holds up the plastic bag. ‘Like you told me to.’

‘Well, if you really listened to me, you should’ve brought a reusable bag.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ he chuckles, a small smirk appearing on his lips, ‘but I forgot one. I won’t every do it again. Promise.’

❀ ❀ ❀

After we prepared the soup base in my pink hot pot, we stalled everything out on my dinner table and I excitedly clap my hands. ‘Ready?’ I ask, as I sit down on the chair.

‘It looks really good, so I’m ready.’ Bucky seems more relaxed now in my place, then let’s say a week ago.

While I told him countless times he should make himself at home, it took him a while to get there. Now he just walks over to my fridge, to provide himself with something to drink.

Last Saturday we went to do some groceries together and it almost felt like we were at least roommates, trying to figure out what we should buy. He is really clueless when it comes to food, but he does know his way around with beer, an area I have zero knowledge in. When we got to my place again (after he insisted on paying for it and it’s probably a battle I will continue to lose in the future), he stored his beer in my fridge.

Not even a few bottles in his own.

He grabs a bottle of beer and a bottle of wine. As he places his beer bottle on his side of the table, he opens the wine bottle and pours some in my glass. ‘There you go, Winnie,’ he says with a smile.

My eyes get lost in his friendly gaze for a second, but then I realize it’s impolite to stare. ‘Thank you.’ When he sits across from me, I grab two pairs of chopsticks, holding them up. It’s the same ones he has next to his plate. ‘Okay, first rule: the dark ones you use to cook your food and the light ones are to eat your food. Make sure you do not mix this up, because otherwise you eat from your raw meat chopsticks and we don’t want that. Okay?’

‘Okay, got it.’

‘Also, don’t add too much food in it at the same time. My dad did that once and it got severely overcooked and that was really disgusting.’

Bucky nods as he listens intently.

It’s almost making me uncomfortable. ‘Why are you staring?’ I ask him. ‘You never stare.’

‘You talk about certain things with so much passion, it’s lovely.’ He tries to hold his chopstick, but is still figuring it out a bit. ‘About your job, food, flowers, movies, cats on the street.’

‘Oh,’ I say with a nervous chuckle. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why are you apologizing, when I’m not accusing you of anything? I think it’s sweet.’

I clear my throat, as I try to pull myself together. ‘Anyways, you first put in the fishballs, and meatballs, so they can boil a little. Once they float on top, you know it’s cooked and ready for you to eat it. You then put in the meat and lastly the vegetables and noodles, copy that?’

‘Copy that,’ he confirms.

I help him with a method to hold his chopsticks, but decide to help him out by putting it all in the hot pot, even for him.

I watch him trying to dip some of his pork in the sauce and he puts it in his mouth. ‘And?’ I ask him. ‘What do you think?’

‘This is delicious,’ he says. ‘Can we do this every week?’

I chuckle, when I see the excited look in his eyes. For a second the underlying hurt and pain is gone. No matter how happy he seems, there is always that fragment of pain. ‘Of course we can.’

He takes a sip of his beer and becomes more and more swift. He eats like he hasn’t eaten for days, which is weird, because I have been consistently feeding him for most of the time. I lean back as I drink some of my wine, while taking in Bucky. He continues to push his hair back and I hold up my hairband I have permanently on my wrist. ‘You want?’

‘Would be nice,’ he says.

‘Stay put,’ I say as I stand up and walk around the table. ‘You are lucky I don’t mind touching other people’s hair.’ I gather the top layer of his hair, since that is really distracting him. Besides, without some gel and other products, I don’t think I could perfect a man bun for him. I wrap the elastic around the strands and I can’t help but admire his hair. Ever since the hair cut I gave him two weeks ago, it looks really good. Especially since he listens intently to all the advice I give him when it comes to hair care.

My phone helps me to snap out of my slight trance. I snatch it from my kitchen counter and discover it’s my mom. She never calls without sending me at least five texts. ‘You mind? It’s my mom.’

‘No of course not,’ he quickly says. ‘I think I’ll manage here. Can I put in some noodles?’

‘Go ahead.’ I quickly flash him a smile and pick up the phone as I walk out of the kitchen. ‘Hi mom.’

‘Hi Winter honey, how are you?’

‘I’m good, mom. Please don’t take this the wrong way, because I really don’t mind you calling me, but you usually text first. Is everything okay?’

The last time she called me without texting first, was when my uncle Jacob was in the hospital. We already knew he had cancer, that it was already stage four and there was nothing we could do about it. However, I had to go back to work, so I told mom she had to call me the second his health started to decline even further. When she did call me without texting me, I dropped everything and rushed to Oregon. With the entire family, we stood around his bed, as he fell asleep and didn’t wake up anymore.

‘Everything is just fine, honey,’ she reassures me and I let out a relieved sigh.

Wait, isn’t the memorial week we always have to honor uncle Jacob nearing?

‘Just a quick reminder that next week is the memorial week for Uncle Jacob.’

Oh crap, so it is week. I already arranged time off of work, but it might’ve slipped my mind. I have been busy feeding my neighbor. I just need to get the tickets and buy something for my grandparents, but maybe I can do that in Eugene.

It’s five years since uncle Jacob passed away. With every year that goes by, I see it’s becoming more and more difficult for my grandparents. They buried a son and I think that might be the worse thing to ever do as a parent.

‘Right,’ I quickly say. ‘No, I remembered. Of course I remembered, mom.’

She probably knows I totally forgot, but thankfully she simply lets it slide. She can’t help it either I can be the biggest scatterbrain from time to time and accepts this from me, even when I forget her birthday four years in a row. ‘Good news, little Robbie got engaged to Eloise. You know, the girl you met last summer.’

 _What?_ No, no, no, I think to myself. This can’t be really happening. Robbie cannot possibly be engaged. This is the most horrendous news I have heard in quite awhile.

Because if Robbie is engaged, that means I’m officially the only Monroe who is single and childless.

Since all three of my uncles will be there, including my aunts, cousins and cousins once removed, it means…

Oh no, this week is gonna be terrible. Everyone is gonna ask me whether or not I’m seeing someone and when I say no, it’s almost like there is no way for more conversation. I am still a hairdresser, I haven’t met any celebrities in the salon and I don’t have any interesting hobbies, besides keeping up with all sorts of reality shows on TLC.

This is gonna be a week filled with me being the babysitter.

‘Oh, isn’t that great,’ I mumble. Stupid Robbie, I’ll kill him once I see him.

When I met Eloise, sure, she was a lovely girl, but I didn’t think it was gonna last. I highly doubt no one thought so. Robbie goes through different girls at the same pace as I go through ramen.

It was bound to fail.

Or so I thought, because now the idiot is engaged and I’m not.

‘Are you taking anyone with you?’

Mom sounds so hopeful and I know it would make her very happy if I brought someone with me. I mean, _I_ would be very happy to take someone with me. Especially because one of my cousins Brie loves to rub in that we’re the same age and she already got a university degree, a husband and a lovely daughter and I’m able to do a very lovely balayage, a bob and curtain bangs on curly hair.

My parents always said to me that a relationship shouldn’t be the number one goal in life and while I try to live by that, I still kinda wish I could show someone off. To rub in everyone’s face that I too can have a relationship, especially with someone beautiful. Both Brie and her sister Tess have husbands that I might crushed on for a while. Wouldn’t it be wonderful the same thing happened, just the other way around?

‘You have been awfully quiet, dear,’ mom notes and I remember I was on the phone with her. ‘Does that mean you have something to tell me?’

‘Well,’ I start and my conscious is a little slower than my impulsive behavior, because I add: ‘I do have a boyfriend.’

Fuck no, crap, no, what I have I done? I don’t even have one. I nervously pace around my living room, hoping that will speed up the process of me thinking of an excuse.

‘You do?’ mom exclaims. ‘Oh Winter, I am so happy for you. You have to bring him with you next week if that is possible. I really hope that would be possible. I cannot wait to tell your dad. What’s his name?’

Make something up, Winnie, please don’t be impulsive and don’t do the thing that you are thinking of. ‘His name is Bucky,’ I say.

Okay, I did it.

‘What a lovely name,’ mom says. ‘Well, you should send me a picture of the two of you. Oh, wait, no, don’t do that. I’d like to see him for the first time in real life. If he can’t make it, then I want a picture.’

My mom is weird, but thankfully this gives me some more time to think about this.

‘Oh dear, I need to hang up, but I can’t wait until I get to see you and meet Bucky. Love you, sweetheart.’ She hangs up and I stare mindlessly at my phone.

Okay, we can conclude I have royally fucked up. Now what? How do I solve this?

I could, of course, not say anything to Bucky and just go to Oregon by myself and tell everyone he couldn’t make it.

Downside to that is that I have to have multiple pictures of the two of us and a few of him I could show to my family. I could photoshop a handsome man into pictures with me, but I highly doubt I am that talented.

And if I do the photoshop thing, Brie is never gonna believe me, that’s one thing I know for sure.

I could, of course, just ask him if he wants to go with me. Maybe he wants to spend time with me and my family and grant me the fulfillment of seeing the jealousy drip off Brie’s perfect face.

I walk into the kitchen and see Bucky enjoying the rest of the hotpot. I mean, he is show off material with his handsome face and after I got to know him, I really think he would be a great boyfriend, fake or not.

‘How is it?’ I ask him.

Bucky looks up, a beautiful smile on his face. ‘This is amazing, Winnie,’ he admits. ‘Everything that comes out of your kitchen is amazing. Thank you for providing me with something better than a boiled egg, some cucumber and regular plums.’

I can’t help but smile. Maybe Julia was right: maybe nothing says lovin’ like something in the oven.

‘How’s your mom?’ he asks me.

‘Good, good,’ I say, as I sit across from him. ‘I have this family memorial thing next week, for my uncle. He passed away of cancer five years ago.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘Does that mean you are going back to Oregon?’

‘Yep,’ I say. ‘I just heard my youngest cousin got engaged,’ I continue. ‘Meaning all my cousins are either engaged, married and or have children.'

‘Leaving you the only one who is single,’ he fills in.

‘Truthfully, yes.’

That causes him to cock an eyebrow, as he looks at me funny.

‘My mom might be under the impression I have a boyfriend.’

‘How come?’ he asks.

I grab a meatball out of the hotpot and dip it in the sauce. ‘I might’ve told her that,’ I say, putting the meatball in my mouth.

Bucky places down the chopsticks and leans back in the seat. ‘What’s his name?’ he asks me, as he crosses his arms in front of his broad chest. My eyes fall on his gloved hand, still because he is not at ease enough to show me his scars, but I understand. I mean, I have a nasty scar on my side and I’m not showing that to him.

Do I want to drag him into this?

‘Bucky,’ I whisper, but loud enough for him to hear me.

‘What?’

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I just couldn’t help it, okay? I heard my youngest cousin got engaged. Engaged! He is only twenty one and on and off the only ally I had during those family weeks. I want to fit in for once and not be the babysitter, who can take care of the kids, so the others can have conversations. I want to show someone off and not be the laughing stock for being single _again_. Please, Bucky… I would really appreciate it if you went with me.’

‘To be your fake boyfriend?’ he asks me.

‘Exactly, you’re already getting it. That’s a good sign, a sign you should totally say yes,’ I say. ‘I bet my entire family would absolutely adore you. Please, it’s only for a week. You can literally be anyone you want to be. Honestly, if you tell them you work with the fire department or you’re a surgeon, you could totally go for it. After this week, I’ll eventually tell my mom we didn’t work out and that’s it. The end. Finito.’

Bucky cocks an eyebrow and lets out a deep sigh. ‘I don’t know, Winnie. I’m gonna lie to your family.’

‘Oh come on,’ I practically beg. ‘I lied to my parents growing up and they never suspected a thing. They are literally so gullible, you can tell them anything.’

‘Just because you lied to your parents, doesn’t mean I should do that,’ he says.

That’s true. ‘Right,’ I say. ‘You’re totally right.’

‘Is it really that bad to be single?’ Bucky asks.

‘In general? No. At a Monroe family get to together? Yes.’

Bucky frowns. ‘If I would say yes, what is there in it for me?’

That is not a no, I think to myself. ‘Well, I was thinking that you can literally eat here whenever you want. _Mi casa es tu casa._ You can even have a key to my place. Bucky, I’m really desperate, okay? Just one week.’

Bucky sighs.

‘If you really hate it,’ I continue to try, ‘just fake you have to go back for work. I’ll pay for both of your tickets.’

He bites his bottom lip and when I examine the look in his eyes, he is carefully thinking about the pros and cons of this impulsive and ill thought out plan. ‘Okay, I’ll do it.’

I let out a squeal, as I clap in my hands. ‘Thank you so much, Bucky. You have no idea how much this means to me.’

Bucky lets out another sigh, but burst into laughter not long after that. ‘I can’t believe this. You’re quite something, Winnie.’

‘If you think I’m something, you haven’t met my parents and the rest of my family, so brace yourself.’

‘Well, I think it’s nothing I can’t deal with.’

I am absolutely delighted he agreed to this. ‘Oh, that reminds me, we need to take some pictures of us.’

Bucky frowns. ‘Why?’

‘Because as of right now, we’ve been dating for around four months and since you are so happy and obsessed with me, we make pictures _all_ the time.’

‘Am I that type of boyfriend?’ he chuckles.

‘Yeah, you are that type of boyfriend. And we are that disgusting couple that has pictures of one another as our backgrounds, so we should do that as well.’ I grab my wineglass and Bucky holds up his beer bottle. ‘To us,’ I say.

Bucky nods. ‘To us.’


	4. Chapter 4

After our agreement to fake our relationship, we’ve barely had time to discuss it, because I all of the sudden had to work five times harder in the salon, since three of my colleagues called in sick. When I got home after a tiring day, Bucky attempted to make something for me and I must’ve taught him well, since it was actually pretty decent and he didn’t poison me.

But right after I had finished my dinner, I would fall asleep, only to wake up bright and early for another long day at the hair salon.

However, I finally have a day off now and I invited Bucky over. We have a lot to go over, since we leave for Oregon in four days. I want to be well prepared. I mean, I could probably ace this without prepping at all, however since I’m going to lie to a lot of Monroes, I’d rather know what I’m up to.

I hear a faint knock on my door and I rush towards the hallway. When I open it, I see Bucky standing there with a smile. ‘Good morning, fake girlfriend,’ he says with a chuckle.

‘Good morning, fake boyfriend.’ I step aside, so he can walk in.

He inhales deeply. ‘Is that plum pie I smell?’

‘That is correct,’ I say with a smile, as I close the door behind him. ‘I wanted to apologize for being the most boring fake girlfriend these last few days.’

‘Don’t sweat it,’ he says, as he enters the kitchen, ‘but you can always make me plum pie.’ He sits on the chair and cuts off a piece of pie.

‘So, you figured out what you want to tell my parents and family about yourself?’

‘You gave me four whole days to think about it and I decided to not lie, so no surgeon boyfriend for you.’

‘Shit,’ I mutter, but it’s quickly followed by a laugh. ‘Tell me all about it,’ I say, trying to hide the excitement in my voice, but simply fail. I feel like I look like a kid who is ready for the teacher to tell a story.

‘Okay, listen up. I’m thirty five.’

‘Really?’ I interrupt him.

Bucky frowns. ‘What did you think?’

I shrug. ‘I don’t know. Thirty, like me? I am really bad with ages. I would be a horrible bouncer at a club.’

He smiles and I catch myself feeling my face heat up, as I feel a giggle rise up. However, I’m an adult, I can contain myself.

Barely actually, but no need to get into details.

It’s just so hard, when someone like Bucky smiles at you like you’re the only one he has eyes for. At the moment that’s of course true, but I wonder what will happen when we’re out and about. I went with him to the market and when we’re in the grocery store, I notice women watching. It shouldn’t make me jealous (nor does it make me jealous), but I am well aware that he is way out of my league.

‘I was born and raised in Brooklyn and served in the military from my twentieth till twenty fifth.’

I nod. ‘Did you stop because of your hand?’

‘Well, yeah,’ he says. ‘Okay, I have a confession. Remember I told you about the ugly scarring?’

‘I do. That’s why you wear the glove, right?’

He seems a bit uncomfortable. ‘Right… Well, I lied about it.’

That wasn’t the confession I was thinking off. ‘Oh,’ I say, ‘why?’

‘Because… I don’t know. It just slipped and I wasn’t ready to tell you the truth yet.’

‘I bet you had a good reason for that,’ I say to him and I mean that. ‘Are you ready for the truth now?’

He nods. ‘I had an accident back when I was in the army and I didn’t end up with ugly scarring. There is not even a scar.’ Bucky takes off his glove and rolls up his sleeve. ‘It goes up to my shoulder.’

My eyes widen as I notice his entire arm is made of metal. No wonder he never wanted me to be on his left side, since I have a tendency to nudge his side. That would’ve resulted in me having a broken arm. ‘A prosthetic?’ I ask him.

He nods.

‘Do you take it off before you go to sleep?’

He now shakes his head. ‘No, they kinda sewed it against my remaining skin and nerves.’

Advanced technique, I didn’t know that was possible. ‘Is that why you can move your fingers?’

‘I can do everything, just not feel anything.’

All of the sudden I feel so sorry. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say, ‘for dragging you out like this. I should’ve kept a lot of things in consideration and I didn’t. It was really selfish of me.’

Bucky shakes his head. ‘I’m a big boy, Winnie, I could’ve say no.’

‘You sure you still want to do this?’ I ask. ‘I can tell them we broke up, really, I don’t mind.’

‘No, no, no, don’t chicken out now,’ he chuckles. ‘We did an entire impromptu photoshoot here in your apartment. We’re gonna show those pictures off to your entire family, I’ll make sure of that.’

I chuckle. ‘Sure?’

‘Hundred percent sure. So, now I’m really telling the truth, so I should let you in on the fact that my job is nothing special. I clean, at multiple different companies.’

‘You clean?’ I repeat. ‘Okay… But you told me you worked from home.’

‘That’s because for starters, I wanted to sound more interesting and I’m always home, because I either clean in after twelve at night or the early mornings.’

‘I see.’

‘Besides, you are a hairdresser and you seem to know exactly what you are doing with your life. I didn’t want to sound like… Like an idiot.’

‘Oh Bucky,’ I say. It’s absolutely endearing, seeing a tough guy like him poking through his pie as he avoids eye contact. ‘I get it, okay. And remember, you are not an idiot. Just know that you can be yourself around me. If you are worried about my parents caring about your job, then don’t, because they care about your heart and how you treat me.’

Bucky sighs. ‘It’s just that cleaning doesn’t sound interesting enough. I mean, you told me I could be anyone I want, but it doesn’t feel right to lie about that, just like it feels stupid to tell them I clean.’

Okay, I kinda understand that. ‘What is your dream job?’ I ask him.

He bites his bottom lip. ‘Florist.’

Oh my, isn’t that absolutely lovely? ‘Did you help Gil with the bouquets you bought me these last few times?’

‘I might’ve,’ he admits, as he is still not looking me in the eye.

I knew it, the bouquets were totally different when I got them from him, but really hit the nail on the head when it came to my taste. ‘Well, just tell them you are working two jobs, to make ends meet for now. You clean and are a florist, but just hoping to one day become a florist full time.’

Why does he seem so shocked? ‘Really?’

‘Of course,’ I say. ‘Remember, I’m your girlfriend and I was raised by my parents. I fell for you heart, not your work or amount of money.’ I snap my fingers in realization. ‘We totally need to change the story of how we met.’

‘What’s wrong with us meeting at the bus stop?’ he asks. ‘Thought there was no room for discussion.’

I glare at him. ‘There wasn’t room for discussion then, but now it’s all wrong, because you are a florist. I have this totally figured out. Listen up: you started working at the flower stand six months ago and when you saw me, you continued to make the bouquets even more beautiful. One day you asked for my number and now you bring back the most wonderful bouquets for me, because that’s the lovely boyfriend that you are.’

‘Wow, I’m such a good boyfriend,’ he says. ‘I agree to all of this. It’s a whole lot better than the ‘our neighbor was recording porn’-story we’ve got going on.’

I can’t help but laugh. ‘That’s true. Oh, I am so lucky that we met like this. I’m gonna make Brie _jealous_ … Can’t wait.’

We discuss everything my parents could possibly ask about him and his life. I find out both of his parents passed away before he went and joined the army and he doesn’t have any other family. I feel so sorry for him.

And now he is gonna meet a whole ton of Monroes.

He goes from nothing to too many, really and I don’t know if that is fair of me to allow.

‘When is your birthday, actually?’ I ask him, before taking a sip of my water.

‘March tenth.’

I let out a gasp. ‘It’s March the eleventh now,’ I exclaim. ‘Why didn’t you say anything yesterday?’

‘You were tired,’ he says, ‘and it’s not that important.’

‘Of course it’s important,’ I scold him. ‘It’s your birthday. Oh my gosh, I feel so stupid.’

‘Why? I didn’t tell you about it.’

 _He has a point, but still…_ ‘That’s true, yes, but… Okay, you and I are going to do something today to celebrate this.’ I grab my phone to search for something for us to do. ‘Oh wait: happy birthday Bucky. That plum pie is all yours.’

‘The plum pie is always all mine,’ he notes, ‘but thanks.’ With his chin, he nods towards my phone. ‘How about you and I go to the painting lounge? I cleaned there a few times, think I can arrange something.’

My eyes widen. Oh my, the painting lounge? Is he serious? ‘I’ve always wanted to go there. Hurry up, shove that pie in your mouth. We gotta go!’

❀❀❀

‘Your name is not Bucky?’ I ask him, as we both sit behind a canvas. We’re at the painting lounge and the owner recognized Bucky and arranged a seat for us near the window. Since we are sitting across from each other, I can’t see what he is doing, just like Bucky doesn’t know what I am painting.

‘It’s a nickname,’ he says. ‘My official name is James Buchanan Barnes.’

‘Yeah, Bucky works the best then. For me at least,’ I chuckle. ‘Well, Winnie is short for something else as well. My granddad refused to call me Winter, because he thought my mom was such a try hard for calling me Winter.’

Bucky looks over his canvas and when our eyes meet, he frowns. ‘Winter?’

‘I know, I know, it’s weird,’ I say. ‘Mainly because my birthday is in summer.’

For a second I think I lost him, but then he starts to laugh. ‘You were right, I don’t think I’m ready to meet a lot of Monroes.’

‘Well, you’re in luck, you’ll meet them gradually, sort of. Mom told me she and dad are gonna pick us up from the airport. We’ll stay at their place for the night, before we drive off to the holiday park, where grandpa bought a few houses for the entire family to stay. I think and I hope we’ll be the first ones there, so we can have the treehouse. I have been eyeing that thing ever since grandpa bought the place, but for four years straight I missed out. If we arrive early, we might have a shot.’

Bucky smiles. ‘You want to sleep in the treehouse?’

‘So badly. I know I said I’m afraid in the dark, but this is a next level treehouse, with the possibility to lock the door. Also, I’m with you, I feel I don’t have to worry about anything.’

‘You won’t,’ he says. ‘As your boyfriend, fake or not, I’ll protect you against all the creatures that can enter the tree house.’

‘Shut up,’ I say, ‘you make it seem unappealing.’

Bucky holds up his hands in defeat. ‘Sorry, Winnie. Okay, have you thought about nicknames?’

‘I just told you my nickname.’

‘Endearing nicknames. Pet names, really,’ he explains. ‘Remember, we’re dating.’

I did not think about that at all. ‘Right… You have any suggestions?’

Bucky visibly thinks about it. ‘Darling, honey, sweetheart, something like that?’

My heart should not skip a beat because of that. ‘I like all of those,’ I admit. Besides, no one has ever called me that, besides my family. It’s nice to have pet name, when it comes to having a relationship, fake or not. ‘I can call you something along those lines too. If that’s okay with you.’

‘Of course it’s okay with me,’ he says. ‘Okay, another question: can I touch you?’

My eyes widen. ‘What?’ I ask him, my mouth all of the sudden very dry.

‘No, wait,’ he quickly says, ‘that sounds perverted. Let me try that again. I mean, when we’re with your parents and family. We are dating, it would be weird if I kept you at arms length at all times.’

Gotta say, I’m slightly relieved and I realize he is right. Again. ‘Oh, well you can hold my hand. That’s what boyfriends do, right? Just… Do what you feel is good, as long as you stay away from my ass.’

‘Noted,’ he chuckles. ‘Okay, are you done?’

‘I am,’ I say, as I place the pencil in the cup filled with water. ‘Ready to show me?’ I ask him, as I hold my own. I am terrible with painting people, so I made something that makes me happy: the view of the future house I want to live in. I want to sit on a veranda with my cup of coffee in the morning and stare at the trees, the pinkish sky as the sun rises and the few goats waking up from their slumber.

I did attempt to paint a goat, but it looks horrendous, so I turned it into a fluffy sheep.

‘As ready as I can be,’ Bucky says.

I turn around mine, only to be met by Bucky’s, who painted… Nothing really, but he did use all the colors I love. Different shades of pink, white details at the borders and my name beautifully written in the middle in the darkest hue of pink.

‘Bucky, it’s beautiful,’ I say.

‘Just like yours,’ he says, leaning in to inspect my painting. ‘Is there something you can’t do?’

‘We’ll find out soon enough.’


	5. Chapter 5

Our trip to Eugene, Oregon started off wonderfully, because we got upgraded to first class. Okay, I’m really deep in debt right now and I probably have to sell one of my kidneys in the future,but if I didn’t pay for it, we would have been on a flight with five stops that would take off in two days. Now we don’t have one stop, so I consider that a huge bonus. Seven hours in a nice plane, with a very cosy seat and one glass of champagne… I mean, I’m not complaining.

I sleep a bit, we eat something and we chat about the stupid movies and series we watched these passed few days. I had already changed my background into a picture of Bucky since the day we agreed to this fake dating thing, so I could get used to it, just like he changed his background to a picture of mine, but looking at it longer, makes me almost forget it’s fake dating.

I am not dating Bucky in real life and I should really keep that in mind.

I sensed he is still a bit upset about making up the lie of him working as a florist. However, I continue to tell him it’s not that bad, leaving out the fact we’re literally going to collectively lie to my entire family on this trip.

Simply because I didn’t want to be the only single one of the bunch.

We stepped off the plane awhile ago and right now we’re waiting for our luggage. While Bucky keeps track of our luggage, I look around me. It feels good being back in Eugene again. I love living in Brooklyn, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like Eugene will always be my home.

‘Ready?’ Bucky asks, as he holds both of our suitcases and rolls it with him, while I’m only holding my bag pack.

‘As ready as I can be.’ I let out a deep breath. While I’m relieved to be home, I’m also a tad bit nervous, because let’s not sugar coat it: I’m gonna lie a lot to my family this weekend. I stretch my neck, hoping to spot my parents. ‘There they are,’ I say, as I hold up my hand to wave at my parents, who clap their hands when their eyes land on me. I haven’t seen them in months and that was particularly rough on Christmas, when I couldn’t leave Brooklyn due to the rough weather.

I might’ve missed them quite a lot.

I’m resisting the urge to run towards them, so I look to the side. I’m not going to ditch Bucky, that’s just mean, especially since I dragged him here. He must sense my need to go to and hug my parents, because he smiles and says: ‘I’ve got this. You go.’

He doesn’t have to tell me twice, because I rush passed the other passengers, to greet my parents with a tight hug. ‘I missed you so much,’ I say, when I wrapped my arms around the both of them.

‘Oh, my sweet Winter,’ mom says. ‘You look beautiful as usual. I missed you.’

My dad presses a long kiss on my cheek. ‘Promise me you’ll never stay away from us this long. If you keep on ditching, I might have to move into your apartment building so I can see you daily. Like old times.’

‘Shut your face, dad,’ I chuckle, already seeing the worst case scenario’s flashing in front of my eyes. That would mean the horrible grandpa slippers, loud singing in the morning and him wanting to come over. ‘I missed you a lot too.’

I hear the wheels of the suitcases come to a stop and when I let go of my parents, I see Bucky has caught up with us.

‘Mom, dad,’ I say, as I let them go to stand next to Bucky, ‘this is my boyfriend, Bucky.’ _That’s so weird to really say out loud and I’m not entirely sure if I will get used to it._

I have told Julia and Chrissy about this entire ordeal, but they know it’s fake. Though they continue to tell me that we are so gonna date for real afterwards, I know for a fact that that won’t be happening. I mean, it’s merely a favor.

‘Bucky, these are my parents, Raine and Harold.’

Like a real boyfriend would do (at least, that’s what I think), he places his left metal hand, securely gloved, on my lower back, probably hiding it for a little while now, while sticking out his other hand as he says: ‘Raine, Harold, nice to meet you.’

Either this man is a terrific actor or this charming piece of man is his real personality. I’m sure hoping for the latter.

_Oh, Winnie, don’t you dare fall in love._

‘Bucky, it’s so wonderful to meet you,’ my mom says as she shakes his hand. ‘I am so happy that you could make it and that you make my Winter happy.’

‘Pleasure is all mine,’ he says.

‘You’re even more handsome than I envisioned,’ she admits, causing Bucky to let out a shy chuckle.

Dad at first frowns a bit, but then breaks out into a big smile, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. With way too much enthusiasm, he shakes Bucky’s hand. ‘Bucky, it is so nice to finally meet you. My wife couldn’t shut up about you. How was your flight?’

‘We got upgraded to first class,’ I say with a smile, ignoring the fact I’m missing at least a third of my savings. ‘I mean, I’m a delight to be around with in Economy, imagine in first class.’

‘That’s true,’ Bucky chuckles.

‘Oh, I’m so happy you two are finally here,’ mom says. She checks her watch and sees it’s around eleven in the morning. ‘Are you kids hungry?’

‘Not yet,’ I say, ‘but I have to buy something for grandma and grandpa, so after that we could eat something.’

‘Oh honey, the mall gained another lovely gift shop and I think you can find something there for them,’ mom says. ‘You know, I need some things from there as well. If you two are up for it, we could go there together now. You go gift shopping with your _boyfriend_ ,’—very subtle, mom—‘show him around a bit, we get our things and then meet for lunch at Joe’s.’

‘Sounds like a plan, mom,’ I say with a smile, glad we can postpone eating something at their place. I might’ve told Bucky a lot about them, but their peculiar choice of food might’ve slipped my mind.

‘Sure thing,’ Bucky says. ‘I’d love to see more of Eugene.’

Dad grabs my suitcase as he walks ahead, while mom lingers around the two of us. Bucky takes a hold of my hand and despite it being the metal one, I’m happy to have some support, since I feel like I’m gonna faint any second now because of the nerves.

_Was I the one who thought this was going to be a piece of cake?_

‘Is this your first time in Eugene?’ mom asks.

‘Very first time,’ Bucky says. ‘Born and raised in Brooklyn.’

When we get in the car, the suitcases neatly secured away in the trunk of dad’s car, Bucky and I sit in the back. His eyes meet mine and he smiles, before reaching over to place his hand on mine.

 _Damn this man is totally going for it_. My heart stops for a few beats, when I feel I’m holding is normal hand. I was not prepared for this, not at all. No matter how many nights we spend in my apartment, no matter how many times I dreamed about this and envisioned this. Nothing could’ve prepared me for the feeling of his warm hand, his fingers lacing through mine.

Bucky tries to contain his laughter, probably because I’m very obviously not breathing and I look so uncomfortable.

‘So Bucky,’ dad says, ‘what do you do for a living?’

Dad did not hesitate to wait with that question. We haven’t even left the parking lot.

I look to the side, as I see Bucky is contemplating if he is going to say what we agreed on saying. ‘I have two jobs,’ he says. ‘I clean and work as a florist. Part time still, but hopefully I’m able to one day make my full time job out of being a florist.’

I can’t help but squeeze his hand, a simple reminder of me being proud of him.

Oh my, that’s how girlfriends think, right? I’m taking this fake girlfriend thing way too seriously.

‘It’s actually how we met,’ I say, when I sense a lack of reaction from both of my parents, but maybe I’m just really impatient. ‘He works at that flower stand I told you about, mom.’

‘Oh really? That’s so lovely. I bet you make the most beautiful bouquets for her.’ Mom turns around and by seeing her smile on her face, I can tell she loves it.

And I’m so lying to her…

Bucky smiles. ‘Well, I try.’

‘He does,’ I say. ‘Knows exactly what I like. Lots of different pinks, some white. Last week we went to the painting lounge and he painted the entire thing in all my favorite shades of pink. He totally has an eye for that.’

Maybe I should tone it down a notch?

Mom beams with happiness. ‘This is absolutely adorable,’ she admits. ‘You sure got yourself a catch.’

She turns around to say something to my dad about flowers, but that gives me a moment to lean over to Bucky and say: ‘You hear that? Apparently you’re quite the catch.’

He places his hand on his chest. ‘I’m deeply touched.’

‘Bucky, has Winnie told you about the place we’re going tomorrow?’ dad asks, while he looks in his rearview mirror.

‘She sure has,’ Bucky says, ‘and I’ve heard something about confiscating a treehouse?’

Mom laughs. ‘Oh, she has been ogling that treehouse the day her grandpa bought the entire piece of land and the houses.’

‘Well, I’m more than happy to get up early in the morning, so we can have the treehouse,’ Bucky says. ‘What Winnie wants, Winnie gets, right?’

That’s a phrase my dad quite like, because I can see him perk up in the drivers seat. ‘You are totally right,’ he says in agreement to Bucky. ‘Winnie, I like this one.’

‘Sure you do, dad.’ Couldn’t they wait with telling me that when we were alone, for example?

‘Bucky, just a heads up: you’re going to meet a lot of Monroes this week and we are all quite protective over our little Winnie.’

‘But,’ I say, ‘you have nothing to worry about, because they are all gonna love you. Mark my words.’

We arrive at the mall and while mom and dad go off to buy some other stuff, I drag Bucky with me. Once my parents are out of sight, I let go of his hand. ‘That went well, didn’t it?’ I ask him.

‘I think so, but you know your parents better than I do.’

‘From the looks of it, my mom was absolutely in love with you and my dad seemed oddly okay with you. Normally he is a bit more… I don’t know, hesitant towards anyone who marches into my life.’

‘Good to know I’m doing okay so far.’

I have to wave at seven different people within two minutes and then I remember: that’s what it’s like being in this part of Eugene. Everyone knows _everyone_.

The fact I met Bucky, saw him at the hair salon and then met him at the market again, within three days, is all sheer coincidence for a place like Brooklyn. Besides my own colleagues, I never see that many people everyday.

That anonymity I have in Brooklyn, is the exact reason I love it there and why Eugene can feel like I’m being suffocated from time to time.

‘Okay, we should hold hands again,’ I say.

‘Why?’

‘Because, now we look like acquaintances and I spot Hilly and her friend Coco over there and I so want to make them jealous.’

I think Bucky shares my desire to make people jealous, because he says: ‘I think I have a better plan.’ He wraps his thick, metal arm around my shoulders and pulls me against his side. ‘How’s this?’

 _Very much appreciated._ He smells absolutely delicious. ‘You know a little too well what you’re doing, mister Barnes.’

‘Just copying what you showed me in those movies.’

I smile. ‘See, it’s always very useful to watch those. They are entertaining, but also very educational.’

‘And maybe this just comes from the heart.’

Before I can respond to that oddly romantic comment of his, Hilly and Coco march over to us. ‘If that isn’t our favorite Winter Monroe,’ Hilly says.

‘Long time no see,’ I say to the both of them. While we always fake we enjoy seeing on another with a hug, I stay securely under Bucky’s arm, which is much better.

‘And you have a boyfriend?’ Hilly is not subtle, it’s just not who she is and while I hated that in high school, it now gives me the perfect possibility to show him off.

‘I sure do. This is Bucky. Bucky, these are Hilly and Coco. We went to high school together.’

‘Nice to meet you, ladies,’ he says and oh my, the looks on their faces. I wish I could capture this moment with a picture, because that would be lovely to look at right before I go to sleep. I always was the odd one out back in high school. I had very little friends and the only one I really could have good conversation, either doesn’t live here anymore (somewhere in Canada, I think) or, believe it or not: my cousin Brie and I were pretty close back in school.

‘Winter is dating,’ Hilly says, but I think she is mostly repeating it for herself, because she cannot believe it. Weird Winnie from high school has gotten herself quite a catch and from what I remember, she isn’t dating anyone, just like Coco. I think there is something going on of a broken engagement going on with Hilly. ‘Miracles do happen.’

_I forgot how much I hate her._

Bucky clears his throat. ‘Sweetheart, you needed to buy something, right? We should hurry, otherwise we’ll be late for lunch with your parents.’

Bucky, the world’s greatest boyfriend. How does he know exactly what to say, at times like this? ‘Yeah, we also are going to have some lunch with my parents. See you girls later.’

‘Yeah, later, Winter,’ they both say, as Bucky and I walk away.

‘Oh my gosh,’ I chuckle, as I nudge his side, ‘did you see their faces?’

Bucky laughs. ‘I sure did.’

‘Maybe I’m wrong, but are you enjoying this? Making other people jealous on my behave?’

Bucky shrugs. ‘It’s nice to see the look on other people’s faces, yes,’ he admits. ‘Maybe I’m wrong as well, but you seem to adjust very well to being a girlfriend.’

This should not make me this quiet and embarrassed, but… Yes, I’m in fact enjoying this. Being part of a couple, is something I’ve never experienced. Fake or not, it’s nice to be shown off and to show someone off.

‘I might,’ I whisper. ‘Come on, the gift shop is over there.’

We wander around the store for a while, trying to find something for my grandparents. I decide that some picture frames for grandma will do, since she is a sucker for pictures in general, while I bought some chocolates for grandpa.

We stroll through the mall, slowly walking towards Joe’s Lunchroom. ‘I used to live in that place,’ I say, the closer we get. ‘The milkshakes are too die for. Oh, my parents have tons of pictures of me sitting there. I bet they want to show you all of them.’

‘Can’t wait for those,’ Bucky admits.

We hold each other’s hands tightly and while I thought it would be awkward and weird and sweaty, it’s actually very nice. I like holding his hand. I like being close to him.

‘There they are,’ I say with a smile, as I wave to them. I drag Bucky along with me into Joe’s lunchroom. I don’t see Joe anywhere, but maybe he is taking it easy these days. He is not the youngest anymore. ‘So, did you two get what you needed?’ I ask my parents

Before I get the chance to pull back my own chair, Bucky does that for me and I stare at him blankly, but I quickly pull myself together and take a seat. He sits next to me and places his arm on the backrest of the chair.

‘We did,’ mom says, as I can see in her eyes she totally approved of that action. Well, mom, you and me both. ‘How about you?’

‘I bought some picture frames and chocolate. Do you have some nice pictures for me of uncle Jacob? Think grandma would like that.’

‘If we look, we sure can find something,’ mom says.

‘Bucky, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but you know we are inside, right?’ dad starts. ‘What’s with the glove?’

‘Dad,’ I start, ‘really?’

‘What, honey? I’m just curious,’ he says.

‘Sweetheart, it’s okay,’ Bucky says. _No, no, don’t turn into a giddy mess just because he said sweetheart._ ‘I am an army veteran and… I have a prosthetic.’

I can see dad is really uncomfortable now, but my mom isn’t. Of course she isn’t. She leans over the table, forgetting her menu, as she places her hand on his normal one. ‘Oh honey,’ she says, ‘I’m so sorry that happened to you.’

Bucky clears his throat, not sure what to do, while I can think of quite a few things I want to do. I want to tell him it’s alright, that he doesn’t need to talk about it and that—

Wait, I really need to reevaluate this entire situation, because I’m way too much of a real girlfriend right now.

‘It’s just that I’m not comfortable showing it yet,’ Bucky says in all honesty.

Mom nods, her eyes going full on empathy mode. ‘I totally understand. It must be hard, from time to time.’

‘It is.’

‘My dad is a World War Two veteran,’ dad says. ‘Growing up, we had to live with the aftermath of his memories.’

Bucky nods. ‘For years I had to cope with that alone, but… Nowadays, I can just turn to Winnie.’ He looks to the side and when our eyes meet, I realize I never asked him about this before, minus his injury. How heartless am I? Is this an indirect hint I should be more considerate?

It’s icy cold all of the sudden and I realize I’m such a bitch.

‘She has truly been my rock.’

❀ ❀ ❀

When we’re back at my old house, my parents hide themselves in our old barn, to prepare something for my grandparents. Growing up, my dad worked at a lumberyard and when he was back home, he would make the most beautiful decorations out of the old blocks of wood he’d bring back from work. While he and mom are totally into that, I don’t really see the appeal.

However, since they aren’t here to show embarrassing pictures of me (yet), I walk upstairs with Bucky closely following me to my room. ‘Please ignore all the posters, thanks in advance.’ I cannot believe those Keanu Reeves and John Stamos posters are still up. I should’ve asked my mom to pull those down before we came here.

‘It’s very… pink,’ Bucky notes.

‘There is nothing wrong with pink,’ I retort.

‘I didn’t say there was anything wrong with it,’ he chuckles, as he sits on the windowsill.

I really need to address the lunchroom situation. ‘Bucky, I’m sorry for being so selfish.’

He frowns deeply. ‘What? What are you talking about?’

‘I mean, you are my boyfriend and I hardly know anything about you,’ I say. ‘I mean, no, wait, you’re not my boyfriend, but my fake one, but I should’ve known this. You are an army veteran and that means you must’ve seen some horrors and… I was just too damn selfish and never asked you once about it and now you say all those sweet and untrue things, but still… It’s so endearing and you have been really sweet this entire time, making everyone either jealous or extremely happy for me and—’

‘Okay, stop it,’ Bucky chuckles. ‘You are absolutely adorable, truly adorable. Listen, do I have nightmares every now and then? Yes. Did I see terrible things there and are they catching up with me every now and then? Yes. But I might’ve made it a bit more intense for dramatical purposes.’

‘What?’ I ask.

‘Winnie, don’t feel bad about it. Just know that you are my rock for the rest of the trip.’

‘Oh, you dork,’ I chuckle. ‘Aside from the entire thing being fake, I do have to admit, you’re doing an amazing job,’ I chuckle. ‘Almost think you are enjoying this.’

‘I am,’ he admits. ‘It’s nice to sort of have a family again.’

‘I bet and I can assure you: you’re well appreciated. I’m beginning to think my mom is trying to find the receipt from my adoption, to check if she can exchange me for you.’

Bucky can’t help but laugh. ‘Just a question, how do you wanna do it with the sleeping situation tonight? Want me to crash on that couch?’

Oh, what a lovely gentleman Bucky is. That tiny couch is too small for me to sleep on, let alone for Bucky. ‘You can just sleep with me in my bed, I don’t mind.’

‘Really?’ he asks. ‘I mean, I don’t want to intrude.’

‘Oh no, don’t you worry about it. I am a professional when it comes to staying on my side of the bed and I also don’t want you to get back issues or whatever form sleeping on that uncomfortable thing. Besides, my parents have this thing of barging into my room without knocking. I don’t know if they would still do that, knowing you’re here, but it would be weird to see you on the couch, right?’

He nods. ‘Are you sure?’ he asks though.

‘Bucky, I’m one hundred percent sure.’

We simply look at each other and while first I was a bit uncomfortable with the staring thing we’ve got going on, I now feel oddly soothed by his gaze.

‘Can I ask you for one more thing?’ I ask him.

‘Always.’

‘Please wear your red Henley tomorrow. That’ll make everyone extra jealous, especially Brie.’


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out this edit I made on my tumblr, so you have a cleared idea of the entire Monroe family:  
> https://keanureevesisbae.tumblr.com/post/642659088661200897/the-monroe-family

Bucky is a terrible sleeper. He can’t seem to find a comfortable position and he kicks. _A lot._

It’s three in the morning, when I receive yet another kick against my shins. ‘Ouch, Bucky,’ I mumble, but it doesn’t wake him. He seems involved in a pretty awful dream and I decide to wake him up. ‘Come on, Bucky, wake up,’ I say, as I try to nudge him awake.

His eyes snap open and gasps for air. He lets out a painful whimper, as he pushes his hair out of his face.

‘Are you okay?’ I ask him, as I sit up straight. ‘You are sweating.’

‘I’m okay, Winnie.’

‘Don’t lie,’ I say. ‘Did you have a flashback? A nightmare?’

‘Something like that,’ he says, sitting up straight as well, leaning his back against the headboard. I turn to the side, so I can look at him a bit better. ‘I fell,’ he whispers, ‘and I kept falling and falling. Snapped my arm in half when I hit the ground.’

‘Oh no,’ I say. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Recurring thing,’ Bucky says, shrugging his shoulders. ‘Are you okay? I didn’t kick you or something, right?’

‘No, you didn’t,’ I lie, but it turns out, I can be quite the terrible liar.

‘Shit, I hurt you, didn’t I?’ He lets out a groan. ‘Tell me, what did I do?’

‘You just kicked me twice or something. Nothing terrible. Bucky, don’t worry about me, when you were the one with the nightmare. Are you sure you’re okay?’ I ask him.

‘I’m okay.’ But now he is the terrible liar and he must realize that as well. ‘I’m okay for now. I’m just gonna stay awake.’

‘Want to watch a movie?’ I ask him, already grabbing my tablet from my bedside table. I don’t want him to sit here awake, while I just go back to sleep, especially after he had a nightmare‘How about an episode of Chesapeake Shores?’

‘Sounds good to me,’ he says to me. He takes the tablet from my hands and presses play, as I pull up the blankets to my chin.

However, while my plan on staying awake with him, I feel my eyes slowly become heavier and I let out a deep sigh. I try my best to stay awake, so we can watch some more episodes together, but I can’t. I’m too tired and I slowly fall against his chest, his white shirt soft against my cheek, too tired to do anything about it.

I don’t know how many episodes I have missed, but when I wake up, I’m curled up against Bucky’s strong side, his soft and warm arm wrapped around my upper body as my face is nuzzled in his chest.

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ I mumble, as I push myself from him, sitting up straight.

‘Don’t you worry about a single thing,’ he says. ‘You only missed two episodes.’

‘That wasn’t what I was sorry about,’ I say.

‘There is also nothing to be sorry about.’ Bucky smiles. ‘Besides, I actually quite enjoyed— You know, forget what I was saying. It’s around six now, I think I’m gonna take a shower.’ He gets out of bed, grabs some stuff from his suitcase, before walking off to the adjacent bathroom.

I grab my phone and open the groups text I have with Chrissy and Julia, especially when I see tons of messages from them.

**Chrissy:** Please tell us you made him another pie.

 **Julia:** Please tell us your parents made those dehydrated pancakes and Bucky actually ate them.

 **Julia:** No, wait, forget all that.

 **Julia:** Please tell us you two confessed you actually told one another you liked each other and that you are ACTUALLY dating now?

I stare at my phone. Do we like each other, I think to myself. I like to make myself believe we are good friends and that was he is doing, is merely a favor. However, with what happened this morning…

It felt so right and it was exactly what I thought would happen when in a relationship. You would feel this comfortable around each other.

**Winnie:** I haven’t made him another pie, my parents did make their dehydrated pancakes and Bucky ate them with flair and no, we do not like each other, nor did we confess.

 **Julia:** Liar.

Am I though? I lean back in bed, as his spot is still a bit warm. About thirty minutes later, he walks out of the bathroom, wearing his red Henley, like I asked him to, paired with some jeans. He already done his hair and plops back on the bed, his back towards me.

‘Are you okay, Bucky?’ I ask him, as I sit next to him, my feet dangling over the side, since I can’t reach the floor.

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ he says, rubbing his face. ‘Just a rough night.’

I nod. ‘Well, since I’m your rock, just talk to me. I will always listen to you. Even after you kicked me awake.’

‘Ah, Winnie, don’t make me feel bad,’ he chuckles. ‘I really didn’t hurt you, right?’

‘No,’ I say, ‘but I’m gonna warn you: I bruise like a peach. I’ll probably have a few blueish bruises on my leg, but honestly, it’s nothing. So don’t you worry.’ I nudge his side, only I forgot I’m on his left side, and the point of my elbow makes contact with his metal arm. ‘Ouch,’ I mutter, as I grab my elbow.

‘Oh no, are you okay?’ he asks, his metal arm placed on my back. while his other hand, warmly embraces my arm.

 _He doesn’t like me_ , I’d like to make myself believe. For thirty years, no one has even liked me, what would make him like me?

‘I’m fine,’ I chuckle. ‘Bucky, when this is over, what are we gonna do?’

‘I figured you’d be back at making plum pie for me.’ He smiles and says: ‘And when we broke up, I’d like to remain friends.’

I bite my lip, to hide my smile. ‘I’d like that too. Okay, I’m gonna get ready.’

❀ ❀ ❀

My parents, Bucky and I managed to get in the car at around nine in the morning and I continued to pester my dad to speed up a bit, because this year I really want the tree house.

When the car stops, I jump out of the care and thankfully we’re the first ones there. I rush into the house, the one where my grandparents and the rest of the family will sleep, to grab my name plate and the key of the treehouse. I walk back outside, all the way to the holder, to place my name plate in it, so everyone knows the treehouse is mine this year.

Bucky helps my dad with unloading the car and rolls our suitcases to where I’m standing. ‘Where’s that treehouse?’ he asks.

‘Come with me,’ I say to him, as I grab my own suitcase. Because of the flourishing trees, it looks like it’s quite a bit hidden. We walk underneath a few branches and we reach the steps. I carry my own suitcase, but it’s really light. I thought I packed a whole lot more than this. When I look behind me, I see Bucky is holding it up with his hand. I let out a chuckle and when we reach the top, I unlock the door.

‘This is indeed a next level tree house,’ he says.

‘Right?’ I ask him, as we wander through it. ‘We have to get the mattresses from inside, but other than, what do you think?’

‘I totally understand why you wanted this,’ Bucky says.

My phone starts to vibrate in my back pocket and I pull it out, only to see my mom has said something in the Monroe group chat.

**Mom:** Everyone, we are already here! Let me know when you’re almost there, so I can open the gate for you 🥰

Bucky rummages through his luggage, in order to change his greenish coat for a leather jacket, because I might’ve asked him to put that one on as well, because he looks so illegally handsome and it makes people even more envious of me.

**Winnie:** In case anyone is wondering, I have confiscated the treehouse.

 **Robbie:** Not fair.

 **Winnie:** It’s not fair that you are engaged and you are younger than I am. Get over yourself.

 **Uncle Alan:** I’ll arrive with Susan and the girls early afternoon and pick up mom and dad tomorrow.

 **Brie:** Winnie, it is totally unfair that you are sleeping in the treehouse. Lia was really looking forward to sleeping there tonight.

 **Winnie:** No, it’s not. I haven’t slept in that thing since grandpa bought this place. I deserve to sleep there.

 **Mom:** Besides, she has her boyfriend with her. It might as well be a fun experience for him.

 **Brie:** 😱😱😱😱😱😱

 **Brie:** WINNIE HAS A BOYFRIEND???

‘Why you laughing, Winnie?’ Bucky asks.

‘Brie just found out I have a boyfriend,’ I chuckle. ‘And I think she is having breathing issues right now.’

‘Evil, evil.’ He stands next to me and looks over my shoulder, so he can read with me on my screen. Normally I hate it when people read with me while I text, but feeling his presence next to me, I actually quite like it having him here.

What is happening to me?

**Tess:** Oh my gosh, Winnie, I’m so happy for you! You totally deserve it. Can’t wait to meet him!

 **Brie:** I told Richard to drive faster, we’ll be there in less than three hours! I want to see the poor guy who is spending time with you.

 **Winnie:** 🖕🏼🖕🏼

 **Uncle Fritz:** About time, Winter. Took you long enough.

 **Winnie:** 🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼

 **Uncle Fritz:** Since you left Oregon, I had two bypasses, a broken wrist, had solar panels installed on my roof and Robbie had two girlfriends and a fiancée.

 **Winnie:** Remember, I’m making the coffee in the morning. I’ll gladly spit in yours or fill it with water from the toilet.

 **Uncle Fritz:** 🤣 🤣 🤣

 **Uncle Fritz:** I’m happy for you, sweetheart, I mean that.

‘I don’t know if I am ready for this many Monroes.’

‘This is not even everyone,’ I chuckle, as I look to the side. I forgot how close he was standing next to me. ‘You can still chicken out of it.’

‘I used to be in the army, Winnie, I’m not that easily scared away.’

We both stand up and walk from the main house to the treehouse a few times, to get the things we need ready. In the years prior to this one, everyone else slept in this treehouse. I missed out so many times, that I figured that I would never sleep here, but making it all ready for us to sleep in, makes me more giddy than I imagined. I installed the heater, but don’t turn it on already, because I don’t necessarily think we should. Besides, it’s not even that cold yet.

I take off my thick coat and exchange it for a thinner jacket. I look out of the window, only to see my dad thinking he is still twenty and a lumberjack.

‘Dad, don’t you dare,’ I yell. ‘Stop right now!’ I look over my shoulder and ask: ‘Bucky, please tell me you can chop wood?’

‘I can, why?’

I ignore him, while I yell to dad again: ‘Bucky will do it!’

We walk to the almost crime scene and ask Bucky: ‘Please, if he is stubborn and insists on doing it himself, make sure you’re there and stop him before he strains himself.’

‘Of course,’ he says with a smile.

While Bucky walks over to my father, I plop on the seat across from my mom, who pours in some coffee for me. ‘You got yourself a good one, honey,’ she says to me.

I really wished she wouldn’t say this, mostly because it almost makes me feel bad for lying to her. However, I know it makes her happy, that I’m happy. While Bucky might not be my real boyfriend, he is my friendly neighbor and I do consider him a friend.

I feel like it would be hard on all of us if we break up.

‘I know,’ I say, as I look to the side, to see Bucky laughing at my dad.

‘I’m so happy for you, sweetheart. Your dad and I were talking about it yesterday and you know what he said to me?’

‘Surprise me.’

‘That Bucky looks at you the same way your dad looks at me, your granddad looks at grandma.’

I chuckle as I involuntarily feel my cheeks heat up. ‘Maybe, yeah.’

‘I can’t wait for the rest of the family to meet him. I’m sure they are gonna love him.’

After half an hour of Bucky and my dad playing lumberjack, they sit next to us. Bucky has some sweat running down his hairline and I grab some tissues for him and before I even know it, I dab his forehead clean. I realize how close I am to him and I pull back my hand, before letting out a soft chuckle.

My phone starts to vibrate and I see that they are almost there. Mom stands up before I can even suggest I could open the gate, but that leaves me, Bucky and dad at the picnic table. ‘Good thing my daughter is a hairdresser,’ my dad says, as I can’t help it to tame a wild strand of Bucky’s hair, ‘so you have free hair cuts for life.’

‘The only reason really I decided to date her.’

I pull hishair. ‘Shut your face.’ As I study his face, I notice he seems a bit nervous, while he tries to laugh it off. Is it because he is about to meet a lot of my family? As my dad is a bit distracted by his phone, I place my hand on his metal one. ‘You okay?’

‘Just nervous,’ he whispers back.

‘Don’t be. I’ll be right here.’

For whatever reason, from the looks of it, I struck a chord, because that hurt, that pain in his eyes… It lost its edges. Bucky sends me a smile and I squeeze him in his hand, only to realize he does not feel that.

‘I want to see the poor doofus that Winnie calls her boyfriend.’

‘That’s Brie,’ I say. ‘Brace yourself.’

I stand up and see little Lia, Brie’s daughter rushing towards me. ‘Baby girl!’ I exclaim excitedly.

‘Auntie Winnie, auntie Winnie!’ She jumps into my arms and I hug her closely. ‘I missed you,’ she says, as she looks me in the eye.

‘I missed you too. You grew your hair out. Very beautiful.’

Brie and her husband Richard walk around the corner. ‘There is the not so single Winnie and I cannot wait to see— Oh… Hello,’ Brie says, as she slows down her pace, completely ignoring me and walking over to Bucky. ‘My name is Brie, Winnie’s cousin.’

Bucky stands up and shakes her hand. ‘Hi, I’m Bucky. Nice to meet you.’

Brie seems impressed and walks over to me. ‘This has to be fake,’ she chuckles, as she pulls me in for a hug, while her husband Richard greets Bucky. ‘He cannot possibly be your boyfriend.’

‘He sure is, Brie.’

She frowns and I fear she actually sees through this lie, but Bucky swoops right in, placing his hand on my lower back and say: ‘It may look fake, but that is only because she’s out of my league.’

 _Take that, Brie_.

Her sister Tess arrives as well, together with her husband Nathan, who I heavily crushed on for _years_ in the beginnings of their relationship, but I have kept my lips tightly sealed, and their son Thomas. Thomas is the first one who rushes over to me and gives me a tight hug.

Being the appointed baby sitter these passed few years, might’ve resulted into me being their favorite aunt and I am desperate to keep it that way.

‘Is that your boyfriend?’ Thomas asks, looking at Bucky with pure amazement. ‘Wow.’

‘Exactly,’ I chuckle. ‘His name is Bucky.’

Since Thomas is four years older than four year old Lia, and is raised by very strict Tess, he holds out his hand and says: ‘Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Thomas.’

‘Nice to meet you Thomas,’ Bucky says.

‘He looks strong,’ my nephew says.

‘That’s because he is.’

Uncle Michael and Aunt Leanne greet us and Leanne whispers to me I chose a really handsome one.

‘This is doable, isn’t it?’ I ask him.

‘Yeah, totally,’ he says with a chuckle.

‘And thanks for that with Brie.’

He simply shrugs. ‘It’s the truth, isn’t it?’

❀ ❀ ❀

Uncle Alan, cousin Susan and my nieces Didi and Felicity arrive half an hour later and since uncle Fritz is always late, he, Aunt Cecilia, Robbie and his fiancée (I still can’t believe that) Eloise arrive half an hour after them.

However, everyone is absolutely in love with Bucky.

And if I’m being honest, if this weren’t all fake and this wasn’t a favor, I’d be in love with him too. He charms everyone off his feet, my cousins (including Robbie) are all a bit smitten by him, my nieces and nephews all want his attention, but are a tad too shy to demand it.

That’ll change within this week.

When he tells everyone he used to be in the army, everyone seems to have a bit more respect for him. ‘But, why aren’t you now?’ Thomas asks, who confiscated a seat across from him.

‘I got wounded,’ he says again, ‘and after that, I wasn’t able to do my job anymore.’

Thomas nods. ‘What happened?’ he asks carefully.

‘I fell from great distance and it left me… Injured.’

‘So, why can’t you do your job anymore, then?’

I look sideways to Bucky, who takes a deep breath and says: ‘I lost my left arm.’

‘Oh my God,’ Tess says, ‘I’m so sorry to hear that, Bucky.’

He simply shrugs and I can tell that the empathy of _other_ people, is making him slightly self-conscious. I think to myself that as a real girlfriend, I’d probably comfort him, be there for him, so I place my hand on his strong leg, only to be met by his instant touch of his metal hand.

‘But you have an arm?’ Lia asks. ‘Thought you lost it.’ What a great listener, I think to myself. I know for a fact when I was four, I didn’t listen that well to adults, nor did I have the amount of understanding she has.

‘I have a new arm. A fake one.’

‘You call that a prosthetic,’ I tell Lia.

‘Can we see?’ Felicity asks, only Didi hits her in the arm and says: ‘You can’t ask that.’

Bucky shrugs out of his jack at rolls up his sleeve. All the kids’ eyes light up at the sight and Thomas even stands up to walk around the table. He examines his metal arm closely and I place my hand on his back. ‘How can you move your fingers?’ Thomas asks.

‘All over your body,’ I explain, when I see Bucky panic a bit, ‘there are nerves. And those nerves are connected to your brain. So when you want to move your fingers, your brain gives off a little signal, so the message travels all the way from your head to your fingers so you move them. With Bucky, they attached the prosthetic to the nerves he had left.’

‘And they made fake nerves in the prosthetic?’

‘Something like that,’ Bucky says. ‘It is very complicated, but you’re getting it, yes.’

‘You look like a superhero,’ Thomas admits.

‘He kinda, doesn’t he?’ I chuckle.

Thomas sits back on his own chair and I nudge my leg against Bucky’s. Bucky lets out a sigh of relief, before he rolls his sleeve back down.

Of course they all want to hear how we met and after we told them, Brie places her underarms on the table. That can’t mean anything good. ‘Show us a kiss, Winnie,’ Brie says.

‘Oh no,’ I chuckle. ‘We’re not doing that.’

‘No, why not?’ She has a sly smile on her face. ‘It’s a Monroe tradition, Winnie and we all did it.’

It is actually a Monroe tradition and while I loved it when the others were the victims, I now hate it. It’s even worse, because I started this tradition with uncle Fritz, to pester Susan and her then husband. Every time someone brought a new girlfriend or boyfriend to the entire family gatherings, it was mandatory to kiss. I never participated in those, since I never brought anyone home, but I was hoping they would forget it.

It’s that the others are joining in and now I feel like I’m totally compelled to do so. Besides, Brie was the one who thought it was fake. A kiss would shut her up indefinitely.

Okay, for twenty four hours probably.

My eyes meet Bucky’s and I hope I get my apology across through this shared look, but he simply shakes his head.

‘Come here, darling,’ he whispers, after he placed his soft hand on my cheek, his thumb caressing the corner of my mouth. He pulls me towards him and presses a soft kiss on my lips.

Okay, where is that AED? I think I’m having some serious heart issues. It has been more than three years since I have kissed a guy and I am sure as hell not complaining about it.

Of course, it doesn’t help I hear four kids say: ‘Ew cooties’, but other than that…

Fuck me, this is good! I don’t want him to let me go—ever!—but maybe we should, since there are minors around here. I feel like I’m gonna pass out if we continue. Though I could kiss him for eternity, will definitely dream about ultimate french kissing with him when I go to sleep tonight, I do realize we have to part lips. When he lets go of me, it sure doesn’t help with my heart problems that he wraps his arm around my upper body, pulling me flush against his side. My lips are close to his ear and I whisper: ‘Don’t you enjoy that too much.’

And all I’m met with, is a simple chuckle.

❀ ❀ ❀

‘You might have kicked me off my throne of being the kids’ favorite,’ I chuckle, as I sit in front of the heater in the treehouse. The kids really wanted to sleep with us in the treehouse, to hear more about Bucky and wanting to spend more time with us, but thankfully everyone said that that can happen later this week, especially because I want to talk to Bucky about a few things.

‘Not intentionally,’ Bucky says and while I’m not looking as he is changing into something more comfortable, I can hear the smile in his voice.

‘I really like having you around here. I’m glad I asked you with me. Fake relationship or not.’

‘I like your family. Winnie, I’m done, by the way.’

I turn around and see he is wearing his pajamas, the flannel pants and the short sleeved shirt. It’s quite interesting to see how advanced his arm looks. I walk over to the bed and sit next to him under the covers. ‘We need a new series,’ I say, as I grab my tablet, while I scroll through Netflix. We finished Chesapeake Shores, so now we have nothing to watch. ‘We have a problem, Buck.’

I expect an answer, or at least a chuckle, but when I look to the side, I see he is not responding. He is simply staring at his metal hand.

‘Are you okay?’

‘You called me Buck,’ he says. ‘Been a while since someone called me that.’

‘Do you mind?’

He shakes his head. ‘No, I quite like it, actually.’ He props up our pillows, so we can both sit up straight as we watch something.

‘How about… Sweet Magnolias?’ I suggest. ‘Seems up our alley.’

‘Sure.’

Before I press play, I look up again. ‘I’m sorry about that kiss.’

Bucky chuckles. ‘You’re not sorry.’

 _Oh, look at that, we’re getting cocky now…_ ‘Excuse me, what?’

‘You’re not sorry,’ he repeats with a confident smile. Before he presses the play button, he adds: ‘Don’t you worry about it. I might’ve enjoyed it as well.’


	7. Chapter 7

Falling asleep in the treehouse was everything I’ve ever wanted, but it was also nice _not_ to be alone in here. I heard some leaves falling and I nearly died of fear, but thankfully Bucky was right there to comfort me and tell me it was nothing. Besides me being the biggest baby on earth, Bucky and I also watched the entire season of Sweet Magnolias and now we need a new series.

Again.

But when I wake up, I have my head on someone’s chest. Bucky’s fingers massages my scalp with his normal hand, as his metal hand is placed on his stomach, _with my fingers laced through his._

Is this a dream?

No, Winnie, this isn’t a a dream. You’re fake dating him, you idiot and sleeping in one bed with him… This was bound to happen. I should just close my eyes and continue to enjoy this a little while lo—

‘Good morning, Winnie.’

I hold my breath. ‘How did you know I was awake?’ I ask him.

‘You stiffened up and your breathing changed.’

I tilt my head from his chest, as I look over my shoulder. ‘Okay, you creep.’

‘I’m not a creep,’ he chuckles. ‘I’d rather call it very observant.’

‘Creep will do it for me for now.’ I pull my fingers from his, before I turn on my other side, placing my head on his chest again. Being with him feels so familiar. Like we’ve been dating for so long now. Like I’ve always been around him.

I thought dating someone was supposed to be scary and nerve wrecking in the beginnings. That’s what Julia and Chrissy told me time and time again.

Why doesn’t it feel like that at all? Fake or not.

‘How did you sleep?’ I ask him.

His hand that was just massaging my scalp, is now placed on my arm, his fingers playing with my sleeve. I shudder as I feel the warmth of his touch against my arm. ‘I didn’t.’

‘Why not?’

Bucky doesn’t say anything and I know exactly what is up.

‘You didn’t want to hurt me,’ I fill in, ‘so you decided to stay awake. Bucky, don’t you worry about me. I’m a big girl, I can handle it. Besides, you didn’t do it on purpose, nor will you ever do that. You have to keep in mind that you need every bit of sleep if you wanna survive a day with my family.’

He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. ‘Yeah…’

I let out a deep sigh, as I almost feel sorry for him, but I won’t voice it. I don’t want him to feel like I pity him. ‘You know what time it is?’ I ask him.

‘Around seven.’

‘It’s too damn early to be awake,’ I groan. ‘It’s so weird. When I’m in Brooklyn, I cannot wake up in the morning at all, but when I’m in Eugene, I just wake up this early the entire time I’m here. What is wrong with me?’

‘I have no idea. Think you should get that checked.’

‘Very funny,’ I deadpan, but I can’t help but let out a little chuckle. Bucky looks tired, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, since he didn’t sleep. I stick out my hand and push a strand of hair behind his ear. ‘I think a man bun would look really good on you,’ the hairdresser in me says. Despite being on a tiny vacation, I cannot help but look at people’s hair. Uncle Fritz for example is in desperate need of a haircut.

Before he can answer to that, it seems like he heard something, because he looks to the door. It’s like someone is trying to open the door. Bucky sits up straight, before getting out of bed. ‘Wait here,’ he says, as he walks over to the door, before looking through the peephole in the door.

He unlocks the door and I see little Lia standing in the doorway.

I really don’t think she should be doing that. ‘Girlie, what are you doing here?’ I ask her. ‘That was quite the walk.’

She rubs her eyes. ‘I missed you.’

Okay, yeah, that is adorable. Who am I to be mad at her? I’ll leave that to her parents. ‘Oh, honey, I missed you too.’

With Bucky she walks over to the bed, after he closed the door behind them and he gets back in the bed, as she wanders around the room. She jumps on top of us when she’s done with her tiny inspection and eventually sits next to Bucky on his other side. ‘You look really cool with your arm, uncle Bucky.’

 _Uncle Bucky…_ It only makes sense that I’ve perished right here and now. This is way too cute. When I look over to Bucky, I see it touched him too. I turn on my stomach, placing my chin on Bucky’s broad chest. Bucky places his warm hand on my back, while we both watch Lia dragging her finger over his metal arm.

‘You think so?’ Bucky asks.

Lia nods. ‘Yeah, you look like a superhero. Mommy says they don’t exist, but I don’t believe her.’

Lia can be pretty headstrong from time to time and we’ve all seen Brie struggle with that. However, every time she growls about it to me, I have to break it to her that Lia is an exact copy of herself from that age.

Only a little bit sweeter. Brie could be a real bitch in kindergarten.

‘Are you strong?’ Lia asks Bucky.

‘Maybe.’ He places his metal hand on her stomach, before hoisting her up and balances tiny Lia on his hand, before stretching out his arm.

‘I’m flying!’ Lia exclaims excitedly. ‘Auntie Winnie, he is really strong.’ She lets out a loud giggle, reaching out her hands to him. He bends his arm, bringing her closer to him. She twirls some of his hair around her fingers, as she continues to stare at him.

‘What are you thinking about, Lia?’ I ask her.

She shimmies herself off of his hand and lays down, placing her chin on his chest as well. ‘He is so cool.’

‘Oh really?’ Bucky chuckles.

Lia looks at me and tells me: ‘You’re cool too.’

‘Oh good,’ I say, pretending to be relieved. ‘You got me worried there for a second. Here I was thinking you liked him more than me.’

She giggles. ‘Never, silly.’

‘Did you just call your aunt silly?’ Bucky asks. He lets out a tsk and wants to do that again, only Lia grabs his face in between her tiny hands and smudges up his face. He says something we both can’t understand, but we burst into a fit of giggles.

‘Can I be with you today?’ Lia asks.

‘Sure thing, Bucky and I thought maybe we would go into town, buy something nice, show him around a little. If your parents allow it, you can join. Maybe Thomas, Felicity and Didi also want to come with us. Just the cutest kids of the family, the coolest aunt and the superhero.’

Lia nods, her eyes glimmering with excitement. ‘We should ask mommy and daddy. I want to go with you.’

‘How about we all go prepare some coffee, tea and orange juice for the rest?’ I suggest. ‘Maybe that’ll convince them to say yes.’

Bucky and I both put on some socks, shoes and a sweater over our pajamas, before we walk out of the treehouse and Bucky lifts up Lia with one arm.

Julia once told me it was always a plus when men were good with kids and that it does something to your uterus. I hardly believed her, but as I’m witnessing this, my heart involuntarily flutters and my ovaries are screaming.

The way Lia has Bucky wrapped around her finger within a day, is understandable, yet admirable. Such a tough looking man, so adorable with a four year old.

We walk into the kitchen and Bucky places Lia on the kitchen counter, after checking if it was clean. ‘Okay, boss, how are we gonna do this?’ Bucky says.

Two pairs of eyes look at me and I realize: I’m the boss Bucky is referring to.

‘How about you two make some orange juice, the juicer is in the bottom cabinet. I’ll go and see if I can get this coffee machine to work and if there is a kettle here in the house, because I’m not microwaving my water.’

Bucky grabs the juicer, while I start the coffee machine. I think it’s a miracle I get the thing running within the first try, but I cannot find a kettle, so I need to ask my mom if she brought it with her.

I look at Lia and say: ‘You make sure this man doesn’t hurt himself, okay?’

‘Okay, auntie Winnie.’

Bucky looks at me and sticks out his tongue, before turning his attention back to the juicer. I walk up the stairs, to my parents’ room. Thankfully—in complete contrast to them—I have the habit of knocking on their door before walking in, which probably spared me multiple awkward moments.

‘Can I come in?’ I ask, just in case.

‘Sure thing, love.’

I walk into their room, to discover they are actually already getting dressed. ‘Mom, please tell me you brought a kettle.’

‘Of course. As if I would microwave my water.’ Mom goes through her own suitcases and hands me the well loved kettle. ‘You and Bucky up already?’

‘We were woken up by Lia, who wandered over to our place. I feel like she shouldn’t be doing that, but I’ll ask Brie about it. Anyways, they are making some orange juice, while I—oh genius—made the coffee machine work and now I’m gonna make some tea.’

‘Oh, we’re so lucky to have you guys here,’ mom says, placing her hand on my cheek. ‘We’ll wake up the rest of the family. Alan needs to be well caffeinated before he hits the road to pick up grandma and grandpa.’

‘Please knock before you enter and ask if you can come in,’ I say, as I walk out of the room. I go back downstairs, towards Lia’s giggles and Bucky’s chuckles.

‘No, silly billy,’ she laughs, ‘the other side.’

‘Oh, sorry, miss Lia.’

I hide around the corner, as I try to hold back a smile. I mean, I never thought Bucky would be such a wonderful fake boyfriend, but he kept on surprising me the entire time. And now he continues to proof himself. I know Lia would be heartbroken if she finds out Bucky isn’t going to be here next year.

I think even I would be heartbroken if he didn’t come with me next year…

‘You like my auntie Winnie?’ Lia asks, just as I wanted to expose myself. I quickly take a step back as I really want to hear what his answer is.

‘I do,’ I hear him say. ‘I like her a lot.’

‘Do you love her?’

He stammers a bit, before I hear a soft: ‘Yeah, of course.’

Even when it’s fake, it makes my heart flutter. Hearing someone outside my family and friend group say stuff like that, means more than I figured.

‘She is really beautiful,’ Lia continues. ‘She is my favorite aunt. She always buys me really big presents for my birthday and we bake cookies together.’

‘That’s so nice,’ he says. ‘You know what she always does for me?’

‘No?’

‘She bakes pies for me. I love plums, so she makes plum pie for me, while she doesn’t even like it.’

‘It’s not nice to eavesdrop,’ my dad whispers and I nearly drop the kettle.

‘It’s not nice to scare people,’ I whisper back, slapping him across his chest. ‘What are you doing here? Don’t you have people to wake?’

‘Your mom is taking care of that.’ He walks passed me after he pats my shoulder and yells: ‘Good morning early birds.’

Damn it. I hate my dad from time to time. Sneaking out of the house was nearly impossible. Sometimes I would walk from one side of the room to the other in the middle of the night to lay down some clothes for the next morning and my dad would be there within ten seconds, asking me if I was okay.

And right now, I was not eavesdropping. I was merely—

Okay, I admit: _I was totally eavesdropping._

I walk in after my dad and place the kettle on the counter, filling it with water, as I check to see how the coffee is going.

While the coffee is running, water is boiling and the orange juice is in the jug, more people gather into the large dining hall. I still feel bad about eavesdropping on Bucky and my niece, as I lean my hip against the counter, deeply regretting the situation.

‘Don’t feel bad for eavesdropping,’ Bucky says when he stands next to me.

‘What?’ I exclaim. ‘I was not eavesdropping.’

‘You would be a horrible spy, Winnie,’ he chuckles. ‘I heard you.’

‘Oh fuck,’ I whisper, as there are young children within hearing reach. ‘I didn’t mean to, just wanted to know what you had to say about me.’

Bucky cocks an eyebrow. ‘And?’

‘Well, I’m cool with what you said.’

Bucky smiles and for a few moments, I’m mesmerized by his beauty and friendliness that is so noticeable in his gaze. Mom drags us back to the table, only using her words and when we all sit around the table, Lia has decided to share the plan we made in the treehouse. I don’t know if Brie and Richard already knew about their runaway child, but we’ll mention that later on today.

‘Mommy, daddy, can I go with auntie Winnie and uncle Bucky to town?’

Thomas perks up in his seat. ‘If she goes with them,’ he tells his parents, ‘then I want to go.’

Felicity and Didi look to their mom. ‘Me too,’ they say in unison.

Susan looks at us. ‘Do you two mind?’ she asks.

‘No, no, of course not,’ I say. ‘I’m happy to be and stay the coolest aunt. We’ll be back before grandma and grandpa are here. Uncle Alan, when do you think you’re back?’

‘Around three in the afternoon.’

‘We’ll be back by then,’ I say. ‘Is there someone’s credit card I can borrow?’ I follow up. ‘I might be a bit broke after going from Economy to First Class.’

‘You said it was no big deal,’ Bucky quietly says, so no one can hear it.

‘Yeah, I lied. I wanted to make sure you got on the plane with me,’ I whisper back.

Bucky glares at me, but thankfully he doesn’t get the time to tell me off, but judging from the look he gave me, he’ll do that when we’re alone.

‘You can have my credit card, sweetheart,’ uncle Fritz says.

‘Dad, that is so unfair,’ Robbie says. ‘I can never borrow your credit card.’

‘That is because you have no self control. I gave you my credit card _once_ and I ended up with not one, but two very large arcades. My sweet Winnie will never do that.’ Uncle Fritz smiles at me. ‘Right, darling?’

‘Right,’ I say with a chuckle.

Robbie tries to find some support with his mother and fiancée, but even Eloise has to admit that he has some severe issues when it comes to spending money.

Bucky and I go back to the treehouse, to get some of our stuff, since we take a shower in main house. ‘You’re really broke?’ Bucky asks.

Took him long enough to ask that question. ‘Not really, just a lot of my savings are gone now. It’s no big deal.’

‘Winnie, it is a big deal. Let me pay you back.’

‘Oh no,’ is the first thing I say, ‘I don’t want you to pay me back. I asked you for this, so I should pay for it. Really, Bucky, it’s not a big deal.’

He clenches his jaw. ‘It is to me. I’m gonna find out your bank account number and transfer the money. End of discussion.’

I burst out into laughter, especially when I see him laughing as well. ‘Very powerful end statement you made there, Bucky.’

❀ ❀ ❀

Normally when you take Lia out, you have to worry about her wandering off. However,I do not need to worry about that at all, since she is completely smitten with Bucky and has claimed a spot on his shoulders. We have been out for quite some time now, simply walking through the streets, as I continue to buy little gifts for them with uncle Fritz’ credit card, since I’m the coolest aunt alive.

‘Aunt Winnie,’ Thomas says, ‘when are you going back to Brooklyn?’

‘Sunday,’ I say. ‘And no, honey, you cannot come with me.’

‘Why not?’ he asks in a whiney tone.

‘Because you have school.’ I wrap my arm around his shoulders. Thankfully he is still pretty tiny, but seeing both his dad and mom, I know he’ll grow to be a tall guy, so I should just enjoy these moments.

He sighs. ‘I just miss you a lot,’ he admits. ‘You’re so far away.’

‘Yeah, I miss you a lot as well,’ Felicity says, who walks next to Bucky, holding his hand.

‘Me too,’ Didi says, who walks next to me.

Lia, who is running her fingers through Bucky’s hair, adds: ‘I miss you too.’

I miss them too. A lot. I press a kiss on top of Thomas’ head and give Didi a peck on her temple. ‘I should visit you guys more often.’

‘Or you move back to Oregon,’ Thomas suggests. ‘So you can pick me up from school and I can sleep at your place again.’

I let out a deep sigh. ‘I have a life in Brooklyn. I can’t just simply leave there, but I’ll think about it, okay?’

We arrive at a playground and after I bought them all ice cream, including me and Bucky, we plop on a park bench. I sit on the backrest, so I can braid Didi’s hair. We bought a few scrunches, which only means I should do their hairs.

‘Uncle Bucky,’ Lia says, who sits on his lap, ‘how much do you love auntie Winnie?’

All the kids, including me, look over to him and I discover he has this almost goofy grin on his face. ‘Yeah, Buck, how much do you love me?’ I ask him.

He squints his eyes at me. ‘I love her a lot.’

‘When did you know you loved her?’ Didi asks. She is quite the romantic of the family, always asking about how couples met and asking these types of questions.

‘Well, when your aunt and I were just dating,’ Bucky says, ‘she continued to make me plum pies, even though she doesn’t like them. When there is something I really like, she’ll always make it for me, or do for me, even when I don’t ask for it. Especially when I don’t ask for it.’

I smile, as I bite my lip to prevent me from giggling.

‘That’s so sweet, aunt Winnie. When did you know you loved him?’

I finish up her hair and say: ‘When I realized he would do anything for me as well.’

‘I want a boyfriend,’ Felicity says.

‘You are not in a rush,’ I tell her. ‘Really, you’re not. If I can wait until I’m thirty, you sure can wait till you’re at least fourteen, but I think your uncles would prefer thirty as well.’

I finish up Felicity’s and Lia’s hair and by that time, they all have finished their ice cream. With their freshly braided hairs, the girls rush towards the slide, while Thomas helps little Lia, holding her hand and helping her up the stairs.

‘You’re very well loved,’ I say to Bucky, as I lean back against the backrest when I sit next to him.

‘Not as loved as you are,’ he notes. ‘You ever think about moving back here?’

I let out a deep sigh. ‘Sometimes.’ I admit. ‘I really miss them from time to time. We FaceTime quite often, but it’s nothing like spending time with them in real life.’

Bucky nods. ‘Well, I would totally understand if you would move closer. I just feel like you wouldn’t move back to Oregon.’

I shake my head. ‘No, you’re right, maybe California, or something. It’s just that I really enjoy living in Brooklyn. Wish I had a private jet, so I could travel there all the time.’

Bucky chuckles. ‘Maybe you could purchase one with uncle Fritz’ credit card.’

I look to the side and smile. ‘I could, but then I lose my credit card privileges.’ I tilt my head. ‘We should stay close friends after we break up. I don’t know if they’ll accept it if I’m not bringing you back here next year.’

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘I would kinda miss them too.’

‘Oh shit,’ I say. ‘There’s Hilly and Coco again, this time with more friends. They all bullied me back in high school.’ I quickly check the kids and see they are not putting themselves in any danger, nor are there any pedophiles in sight.

Meaning we could take our eyes off of them for a brief moment.

‘Kiss me,’ I tell him.

‘What?’ Bucky asks me. ‘Kiss you?’

‘Please.’

He simply nods and I waste no time placing my hand on his cheek and pulling him closer to me. Our lips meet and while he does stiffen up for a second, he then buries his metal hand in my hair. In complete contrast to our last kiss, Bucky hesitantly opens his mouth, his tongue exploring my bottom lip. As an answer, I open my mouth against his and nearly moan against his lips.

_Thankfully I have some sort of self control._

‘Maybe I should look if they’re gone,’ I mumble against his lips.

‘I think they’re still here,’ Bucky breaths heavily. He pulls me back against him, his kiss much more intense than previously.

‘Ew, you are disgusting!’ I hear Thomas yell, while I hear Didi say: ‘They are so romantic!’

I let go of him and see from the corners of my eyes that the entire gang Hilly and Coco surrounded themselves with, have long passed, but are still looking over their shoulder. ‘They were long gone,’ I chuckle.

‘No,’ Bucky says with a serious tone, ‘they were walking slower first and then sped up.’

‘You were not facing them, Bucky and unless you are hiding two eyes in the back of your head, you couldn’t have possibly seen them.’

He cocks his eyebrow and places his metal arm on the backrest, as we look at the kids. My lips are still buzzing in the aftermath of that kiss and when I peek to the side, I see Bucky has a very satisfied grin on his face.

_Smug bastard._

❀ ❀ ❀

 **Mom:** Grandma and grandpa are already here.

 **Winnie:** It’s only two. We’re heading back right now.

 **Dad:** 👍🏽

 **Dad:** Oh wait!!!

 **Dad:** 🦾

 **Winnie:** Oh my, dad, seriously?

 **Dad:** Tell Bucky there is a metal arm emoji. So he won’t feel left out 🥳

 **Winnie:** Dad, I’m not gonna tell him.

 **Dad:** Tell him, Winter 😡

 **Winnie:** Okay, I told him and he didn’t know and now he doesn’t feel left out. Happy now?

 **Dad:** Like a dog with two tails 🐕🐩

❀ ❀ ❀

The kids run ahead of us and that means I can let go of Bucky’s hard and metal hand, since the four of them forced us to hold hands. I don’t want to, really, but in complete contrast to his hand, mine is getting a little sweaty. I don’t really know how couples do it.

‘Don’t worry, my grandparents are very sweet,’ I say to Bucky. ‘I actually think it’ll be easier. They are too old to kick your ass, unlike uncle Fritz, who will probably do that later this week.’

‘Fritz really is going to do that?’ Bucky asks. ‘Thought he was joking.’

‘Sorry, you can’t be a boyfriend of a Monroe girl, without getting your ass kicked. I don’t know how it started. It’s a weird tradition, I’m sorry.’

‘Thankfully I can handle it,’ he chuckles.

‘Papa,’ I hear Lia yell, before Thomas says: ‘Mimi!’

‘They’re here. You’ll do fine,’ I reassure him once again. I grab his gloved hand and drag him with me. ‘Just keep in mind, my grandpa is a little bit… Losing his memory. Okay? Very early stages of dementia.’

‘Okay,’ he says, smiling at me, which is only an extra confirmation. He managed well with the rest of my family, however, now, it’ll only go even better, since my grandparents are the loveliest.

‘Grandma, papa!’ I say. ‘I’m so happy you’re here.’

They sit on a large lounge seat, and I give them both a hug and kiss. ‘I missed you, sweetheart,’ grandma says.

‘My sweet Winnie,’ grandpa says, giving me a kiss on my cheek. ‘Alan told us you had a boyfriend. Where is he? I want to see the man who will be dead if he breaks your heart.’

I pull back and roll my eyes. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ I usher Bucky over and say: ‘Grandma, papa, this is my boyfriend—’

‘Sergeant Barnes,’ my grandpa says, who manages to push himself up and salutes. ‘Private Monroe, sir.’


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, I think it’s time to reevaluate this entire situation, because even I can’t comprehend it and I work in a hair salon, where I hear weird stories all the time. My grandpa, who is a World War 2 veteran, refers to my boyfriend, who is an army veteran as _Sergeant Barnes_ , whilst saluting and refers to himself as _Private Monroe_.

_I have so many questions._

‘Papa, what?’ I ask him.

Grandpa’s eyes look so puzzled, as he continues to stare at Bucky, slowly lowering his shaking hand. He is confused and it hurts my feelings to see him like that. These early signs of dementia, it’s always hard on him, but combined with his traumas from the war, it must be unbearable right now. ‘You…’ he starts, but simply cannot form words to finish his sentence.

Grandma leans over to hold his hand. ‘Darling, are you alright?’

Bucky clears his throat. ‘Sir, you’re a World War Two veteran right?’ he asks.

Grandpa nods, while everyone else seems frozen, as they all seem worried about the old man. ‘Yes,’ my grandpa says.

‘I think you are referring to my great uncle,’ Bucky says. ‘I was named after him.’

‘You look just like him,’ grandpa breaths out. ‘The resemblance is uncanny.’

Bucky nods. ‘I get that a lot, sir, yes. Comes with naming your kids after someone I guess.’ Bucky lets out a slightly forced chuckle, causing me to tilt my head. That is very unlike him to do that, I think to myself. ‘My grandparents were very close to him and when they heard he passed, they kinda wanted to do a tribute to him,’ Bucky continues. ‘Only my grandma had to name her father first and they only had one son, my dad, so when I was born, I was named after my great uncle.’

‘What are the odds, dad.’ uncle Michael says, who places his hand on his dad’s shoulder.

He simply stares. ‘What are the odds, indeed,’ grandpa mumbles.

Bucky nods. ‘Excuse me, I’m being terribly rude. My name is Bucky.’ He holds out his hand and my grandma is the first one to shake his hand.

‘I’m Bettie, so nice to meet you. This is my husband, Leo.’

Bucky shakes my grandpa’s hand, who still is mesmerized by him and can’t seem to mutter out anything sensible.

From the looks of it, I think I need to talk to Bucky with a bit more privacy, so I say: ‘You and I need to drink something. We’ll be back in a minute.’ I pull Bucky with me to the kitchen. ‘How are you?’ I ask him. ‘You seem pale.’

‘Yeah, I’m fine, Winnie, I’m fine. Just been awhile since I thought about my great uncle and the value my name carries. I’m sorry, I should’ve told you.’

‘Why?’ I ask him. ‘How were we supposed to know my grandpa knew him?’

‘No, no, right… It’s just… I don’t know.’

‘Bucky,’ I whisper, grabbing both of his hands, ‘I think you should take a breath.’

He nods. ‘Right, I do.’ He takes a deep breath.

‘Okay, remember, there is a chance papa might get confused a few times, but just tell him what you just told him now, okay?’

‘Okay,’ he whispers, squeezing my hands. I don’t know what he needs right now, but from the looks of it, he maybe needs a hug. I gently pull him closer, before wrapping my arms around his neck. I have to stand on my tippy toes to properly give him a tight hug, but it’s all worth it in the end. Especially when he presses his face in my shoulder, letting out a deep sigh.

It seems like it did more to him than I initially thought. Must’ve been hard to be named after someone, especially someone who fought in a war and whose died whilst fighting for freedom.

‘You okay?’ I ask him.

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ He slowly lets go, and gives me a quick smile. ‘Thanks.’

‘Hugs are free, Bucky, I can give them out anytime.’ I grab a glass, pour in some water and hand it to him. ‘Drink up, you need to stay hydrated.’

He actually holds my hand as we walk out and join the rest. For some unexplained reason, I do think Bucky is in need of my support, so I wrap my arm around his normal one and our fingers lace through each other. While the little kids continue to babble about what we’ve bought for them, I can’t help but notice my grandpa, who seems pretty out of it, which is obvious of course.

World War 2 was very traumatic for him and it left him critically wounded (though he never enclosed what exactly his injuries were, only my grandma knows about it, but even she never lets us in on that as well) and seeing a face that seems familiar, might be hard on him. Especially because he shows symptoms of the early stages of dementia.

_This cannot possibly be easy for him._

After what seems like an hour, grandpa clears his throat. ‘Winnie Bear,’ he says, ‘could you help your old man? I need something from inside.’

‘Of course,’ I say. I get up, before helping him and with our arms linked together, we go inside.

‘You need to go back to my apartment,’ grandpa says, the second we’re inside and out of hearing reach.

‘What? Why?’ Do I really need to go to that retirement home? I don’t like it there. It smells like potpourri and then the disgusting kind. After a trip there, you carry that smell with you.

‘Because I need you to go to the bathroom and behind the grate above the toilet, is a box with the label World War 2.’

He sure went out of his way to hide something. ‘Why?’ I ask him.

‘Because I need a picture. A picture of my 107th Infantry. To show you I’m not crazy.’

‘Papa, you are never crazy, nor would I ever think that. It’s totally okay, it happens.’

‘I need you to get that picture!’ he snaps. Grandpa seems very _very_ serious about this. I don’t think I have ever seen him like this. Grandpa is always sweet, patient and lovely.

‘Geez, okay, okay,’ I say, ‘I’ll go get it.’ 

‘You know,’ grandpa continues, in a softer tone, ‘I got a letter when I was back home, recovering. To inform me that Sergeant Barnes had probably passed away. He had fallen off a train and fell a great distance. There was no way he would’ve survived that, though he was officially listed as missing in action.’

I frown. He fell? Bucky fell from a great distance, he told that to the entire family. He has flashbacks and nightmares where he falls and falls and falls.

‘Tell the rest I forgot some of my medicine,’ grandpa says, pulling me back into reality.

‘Why do I have to lie to them?’ _Winter Monroe, you of all people should not be asking that question._ ‘Okay, you know what, never mind. Forget that last question. I’ll go tell them that. Do I need to go alone?’

‘Yes.’ Wow, he is really insisting on it.

‘Why?’

‘Because you are the only one who will not find me crazy.’

While at first I think that might be a stretch, I do think he has some sort of point. I might not be the brightest one of the bunch, I think I’m the most open minded of all the grandchildren.

The two of us walk outside again and once I’m there, I walk over to my spot to grab my phone. ‘I’ve got to go and get some of grandpa’s medicine,’ I say, putting my phone in my back pocket.

‘You want me to go with you?’ Bucky asks me, but I simply shake my head, though I think it’s really sweet he offered.

‘No, no, you stay here. I’ve got this.’ I look around, but realize I never took a jacket with me when the kids, Bucky and I went to town. But it’s growing later, thus colder and I don’t want to go back to the treehouse.

As if he can read my mind, Bucky stands up and shrugs himself out of his hoodie. ‘Here,’ he says.

He helps me in his hoodie and I can’t help but blush. _This is so thoughtful._ ‘I’ll be back before you know it, okay?’ I see Brie watching from the corner of my eyes and it’s such a shame she didn’t see that wonderful kiss Bucky and I shared at the playground.

‘Yeah, okay.’

I stand on my toes, before quickly pressing a kiss on his lips. Partly because I want to have Brie off my back, since I am aware she is still not quite sure whether or not this is real and because… It just happened…?

Bucky has a surprised grin on his face and it’s Uncle Fritz who snaps me out of my thoughts. He throws me his keys to his Jaguar and you sure bet your ass I’d rather drive his car, than any of those SUV’s, town cars or family cars the rest drive.

‘Later,’ I yell over my shoulder.

‘Later, Winnie,’ everyone says. I send my grandpa a quick smile, letting him know I’ll take care of it. That I will get that picture.

When I sit in the car, I realize it might be a bit mean to leave Bucky like this. So I grab my phone and decide to send him a text.

**Winnie:** Maybe you can take the kids to the treehouse, watch a movie or something on my tablet.

 **Winnie:** You know the password.

 **Bucky:** Thanks for the tip.

 **Winnie:** I promise, I’ll be back before you know it.

 **Bucky:** I know, Winnie 🤗

❀ ❀ ❀

Oh, this fucking smell, I think to myself as I enter the retirement home. I sure have not missed this at all.

‘Winnie, hi!’ Rosa, the nice and wonderful receptionist, says when she notices me. ‘I heard you were back for the memorial for your uncle Jacob.’

‘Yeah,’ I say, ‘it’s been a while since I came back. The winter storm in Brooklyn made sure I could not spend Christmas here.’

‘Your grandma mentioned something like that today, how she haven’t seen you in such a long time. I’m sure you’re not here to talk to me, love. What can I do for you?’

‘My grandpa, surprise surprise, forgot some stuff in his apartment, so I was wondering if I could go up to their room and get it.’

‘Of course my dear,’ she says with a smile.

‘Can I have a key?’ I ask, leaning over the desk. ‘Grandpa might’ve forgotten to give me his.’

‘Typical,’ Rosa chuckles, as she hands me the runner key. ‘There you go. Just remember to—’

‘Give it back to you on the way out, yes, I remember, Rosa. Thank you.’

On my way to my grandparents’ room, I say hello to a few older people who are glad to see that ‘little Winter Monroe’ hasn’t forgotten about Eugene, Oregon and I help a woman in a wheelchair to grab her book from her floor.

I quickly open the door of the right room and when I close it behind me, I’m praising my grandma for always buying those vanilla scented candles that have such an overwhelming smell. Normally it gives me a headache, now it gives me a break from the old people potpourri smell that lingers in this entire home.

I go to the bathroom, close the lid on the toilet and stand on it as I try to open the grate. After some violent shaking, some pulling and googling on how to remove such thing, I manage to take it off and see a box that is indeed labeled with World War 2. I take it from the hole in the wall and jump off the toilet. I place the box on the floor, so I can climb up the toilet again to close the grate and while I want to look in the box right now, I feel like Rosa would grow suspicious if I stayed here a lot longer.

Opening that damn grate cost me a good ten minutes.

I grab a random tiny jar of pills, put it in a reusable bag my grandma keeps and rush out of the room after closing the door behind me. I quickly give Rose back the key, before I get myself out of the horrible smelling home, to the really awesome Jaguar.

When I get in, I let out a deep breath. We shall see whether or not my grandpa is either going crazy, or if he is actually going somewhere. 

I open the box and rummage through some pictures. Mostly, it’s old letters of my grandparents and it feels like invasion of privacy if I were to actually read them without their permission.

Instead I grab a picture. It’s one of my grandpa, I recognize him right away. But no one seems even slightly familiar. I go through more and more pictures, but no one seems to even slightly resemble Bucky.

I fear my grandpa is officially losing it, however I finally see _107th_ written on the back of one of the pictures. I turn it around and scan the every face of every man on this picture.

Only to see someone who looks _identical_ to Bucky, just with shorter hair. Oh… Shit… This is freaky. Very very freaky. This Sergeant my granddad told us briefly about today, is a spitting image of my fake boyfriend. While Bucky now has long hair, I have clipped his hair back a few times as a joke. Also, I am a hairdresser, I can envision what people would look like with a different hairstyle.

While I might not be the most intelligent one in any room, I think this is not how genes work…? How can you look _identical_ to your great uncle? That would mean, Brie or Tess or Susan would look just like that annoying great aunt we have. I have seen pictures of her and they look nothing like her. It also would mean that Thomas should look like one of my uncles and he does not resemble them at all.

This is impossible right?

I grab my phone, as I compare my phone wallpaper with the picture I have in my hands. This is absolutely ludicrous, because it looks like I’m staring at the same person.

Oh my, this is just like Age of Adeline, only gender reversed and a different plot.

It’s pretty sci-fi, but is it really impossible?

‘Maybe papa wasn’t wrong about this. Maybe he is not actually losing his mind, but really making sense right now.’

Oh no, I’m starting to talk to myself. That is a bad sign, it means I’m officially losing my mind.

After I made a picture of this one, I go through more pictures and see one of my grandpa and _Sergeant Barnes_ together. They smile into the camera. While it’s almost endearing to see, that my grandpa’s smile hasn’t changed at all since this picture was taken…

I can’t not notice that Sergeant Barnes and Bucky have the exact same smile. I’ve seen it when I told Bucky a bad joke, said something funny or we saw something idiotic, that it became hilarious.

I make a picture of this one as well.

My brain is officially starting to hurt. This is madness. I lean back against the comfortable seat and find the letter that informs my grandpa that _Sergeant Barnes_ is missing in action and since no body has been recovered, he is presumed dead.

While the way the accident was described by grandfather matches Bucky’s nightmares, there is one thing that bothers me.

Why didn’t Bucky age? He might look a tiny bit more mature, but growing mature doesn’t equal physically aging. Why would he still look young, while my grandpa has lost his blondish head of hair, has wrinkles and shrunk a good few inches.

I drive back to the camping site, nearing illegal speed, but come to think of it: I wouldn’t be fined, uncle Fritz will probably receive one in his mailbox. I park the car and with the bag in my hand, I sneak back inside. Brie and Tess are preparing dinner and the rest of the adults are in the living room, minus grandpa.

Mom informs me that Bucky is in the treehouse, but I tell her I’ll go over there in a minute.

Because grandpa and I need to have a talk.

‘Papa, I’m back,’ I say, when I close the door.

He ushers me over and I sit next to him on the bed. ‘Did you find the pictures?’

‘Yes, I did,’ I say.

‘Did you look at them?’

I nod. ‘Papa, you might not be losing your mind,’ I tell him. ‘There might be a possibility you are actually totally right and not wrong at all.’

He smiles, almost relieved I am saying this. ‘I knew you were the only one I could talk to about this, Winnie Bear,’ he says. I hand him the box and with shaky hands he opens the lid. He sees the one I saw the last. The one of him and Sergeant Barnes.

He sucks in a breath, before placing his hand on his lips.

‘What was sergeant Barnes like?’ I ask him.

I never once asked him about the war, mainly because my dad forbid me to do so. He saw the way grandpa became when he was younger and asked him about it. The hurt in his eyes, the words he would say to my uncles…

Asking this, is entering dangerous territory.

But somehow I’m not afraid.

‘He was a true leader,’ grandpa says. ‘A bit of a show off, but he could get away with it. He was tough, always made sure all of the men were there. I was a few years younger than him and on my first stake out, I was afraid. Everything was different, it was scary since it was my first mission. I was supposed to be sleeping, but I simply couldn’t. Sergeant was also supposed to be asleep, but noticed me shifting and turning. He told me to stare at the stars and the moon. No matter where the mission was, no matter how far away from home we were, the stars and moon would always be there. I thought it was a bit corny, but it worked.’

I smile. ‘That’s what you told me to do when I couldn’t sleep when I was younger,’ I chuckle, as I remember the times he took me outside when I was unable to sleep.

‘It made quite an impression on me,’ grandpa admits. ‘It’s what I always told your grandma, your uncles, your dad, when they couldn’t sleep. It always helped.’ Grandpa’s eyes fill with tears. ‘Sergeant Barnes always remained a hero in my mind.’

‘Did you tell grandma about him?’

‘No,’ he says. ‘I never told anyone about anything that happened in the war. Not about the friends I made, about… the people I shot at or the horrors I’d seen.’

‘You think it could be the same person?’ I quietly ask him. ‘Your sergeant Barnes and my… My boyfriend Bucky Barnes?’

‘It could be,’ he whispers.

I dry his tears and give him a kiss on his cheek. ‘We could talk about it tomorrow,’ I suggest. ‘It must be hard for you to open up about this, right?’

‘It is, Winnie Bear, it is. What are you gonna tell your boyfriend?’

‘Nothing, because I have to think about this first. Besides, it’s a bit weird to tell him this, right?’

‘Right.’

We hide the box and while he is trying to compose himself, I had the plan to go to the treehouse to inform them dinner is ready, but the kids are already rushing towards the house. ‘Where’s Bucky?’ I ask them.

‘Still in the treehouse,’ Thomas says and I decide to see how he is doing.

If this is true, I all of the sudden think to myself, how difficult must this be on him? Imagine knowing people who he served with, his friends and family, all thought he was dead… But somehow he wasn’t. Seeing them either passed away or my grandfathers age, while he looks and acts like he is in the prime of his life…

That must be so hard to live with.

I open the door of the treehouse and see Bucky staring at my tablet, whilst he is sitting on the bed. ‘Is that a projector?’ I ask, pointing at the piece of equipment.

‘Yeah,’ he says, ‘your uncle Michael brought it here. It’s a nice way to watch movies and series.’

‘We should do that tonight,’ I say.

‘We sure need to.’ Bucky places the tablet on the bed before getting up on his feet.

‘The kids didn’t tire you out, I hope.’

‘No, they didn’t,’ he chuckles, but his smile is not reaching his eyes.

‘Thank you for coming with me,’ I say. ‘I really enjoy seeing the kids taking a liking of you.’

‘Not a problem.’

I hold out my hand and as he takes ahold of it, we descend down the stairs, to the main house. Bucky is not himself and I really don’t like seeing him like this. With the way he is acting, the more and more certain I am that what I’m thinking might’ve happened, might actually be true.

And I don’t know whether or not that should scare me.

Dinner goes by so slowly and I know that my grandpa is internally freaking out and that might be the case as well with Bucky.

When dinner is finally over, the kids have to go to bed and I decide that I’m not hanging out with the adults, but that we’re going back to the treehouse. Once we’re back, he quickly changes into his pajamas and with his back turned to me, he is tucked underneath the blankets.

After I got ready, I get in the behind him. Without even thinking about it, I wrap my arm around his waist. I place my chin on his soft upper arm. ‘What’s wrong, Bucky?’ I softly ask.

He places his hand on mine. ‘Nothing.’

‘Did my grandpa upset you?’

‘No, it’s… he just stared at me the entire time.’

 _Which is both true and understandable._ I could just ask something about it, but the words don’t leave my mouth. Instead I ask: ‘Want to watch a movie?’

Bucky nods, before turning around. He actually pulls me against his chest, as he wraps his arms around me.

I think I can conclude he doesn’t want to watch a movie right away. ‘Or a hug first?’ I ask. ‘Remember, I have a lot of them and they are all for free.’

Bucky does not answer, does not smile. He tightens his grip on me and lets out a deep sigh. Guess he did need a hug first.


	9. Chapter 9

Last night was filled with racing thoughts and lots of tossing and turning on my side. However, even after the night I had, I still wake up at the crack of dawn. I’m on my back, which is pretty unusual, because I usually wake up on my stomach. But then I realize the position Bucky and I are in. He’s on his side, his head resting on my chest. His metal arm is securely wrapped around my waist, as he pulled me flush against his broad and strong body.

I think this might be the first time I have seen Bucky this deep asleep. I run my fingers through his long locks, as he lets out a soft breath, totally relaxed. I close my eyes again and try to wander back into sleep, but I can’t.

Not when there is so much to think about.

I just wish I could talk to Bucky about this. But there are only two outcomes once I mention it. One, I’m right about this and he has to explain it, which he maybe will do. Two, I’m not right about this and he leaves Oregon to go back to Brooklyn and moves apartments, because he thinks I’ve totally lost it.

Bucky stirs in his sleep and it takes him about a minute before he actually wakes up. He lifts his head and smiles when we lock eyes. ‘Good morning, Winnie,’ he says, turning on his stomach, as he places his head on my shoulder. ‘How did you sleep?’

‘Okay, not as good as you though,’ I say, my fingers running through his hair. ‘You were totally out.’

‘Yeah, I might’ve been, yes,’ he says. ‘The kids might’ve tired me out. I may look strong, but carrying them the _entire_ time, it’s pretty tiring.’

‘I bet.’ I bite my bottom lip, as he places his hand in the dip of my waist. Please, Winnie, don’t do anything stupid now.

‘Bucky,’ I say, ‘yesterday I went back to my grandpa’s apartment, to get this box, where he kept things from the war.’

He clenches his jaw and his grip on my waist tightens. ‘Oh.’

‘And I saw this picture of him and this sergeant Barnes he mentioned…’ I grab my phone and go through the pictures, before turning the screen to him, so he can see the picture. ‘He kept saying that the resemblance was uncanny and he told what happened to the sergeant. That he fell off a train and fell that deep, there was no way he could’ve survived that. It reminded me of what you told me and the rest of the family.’

Bucky scans the picture. He blinks his eyes a few times, before he sits up straight and runs his fingers through his hair.

‘Is he really losing it, Buck, or… Is he right?’

Without saying a word, he gets out of bed. He starts putting on a sweater on top of his white shirt and because he slept in his sweats, he skips that part and puts on socks and shoes.

‘Bucky, what are you doing?’ I ask, pushing off the blankets. I walk over to him, but he simply shrugs off my hand as I touch his arm.

You stupid cow, I really shouldn’t have brought it up this way…

‘I need to be alone.’

He does not say I’m crazy nor does he deny it. That must mean some of it is true, right? ‘Okay,’ I say. I watch him march to the door and before he can open it, I add: ‘Just be careful.’

Bucky freezes and with his hand on the doorknob, I notice him taking a deep breath. ‘What?’

‘Be careful,’ I say again. ‘I get that you want to be alone, but if you’re lost or whatever, please call me, okay? Know that you can call me.’

He turns around and his eyes look so broken. He seems smaller, fragile even. ‘Okay,’ he says, his voice hoarse. ‘I have to think about this.’

‘I know,’ I say. ‘Remember, I am here for you.’

He walks back over to me, grabbing one of his hoodies and helps me in it. His own, slightly awkward, way of telling me he cares. _And I know that he still cares._

He takes my hand in his. ‘I know that.’

‘Promise me you’ll come back,’ I whisper.

‘I will.’ He brings my hand to his lips, to press a gentle kiss on my fingers. ‘I promise, Winnie.’

And with that, he walks out of the treehouse. I quickly put on some socks, shoes and sweats, before walking out of the treehouse as well. I can’t see him anymore, but I think he wandered into the woods. That seems like something he would do, when he needs to think about something.

With my phone in hand, I go over to the main house. My grandma is already sipping tea with my aunts, mom and Tess. ‘Good morning,’ I say, ‘is grandpa still sleeping?’

‘I think he is, but you can wake him up, dear,’ grandma says, holding my hand as I pass her.

‘Where’s Bucky?’ mom asks.

‘He went out for a walk,’ I say, ‘clearing his mind.’ I flash them a smile, before walking to my grandparents’ room.

He is already up, reading something in a book. He looks up and smiles. ‘Winnie Bear,’ he says, ‘what a surprise.’

It all catches up with me. I know that Bucky will come back, but I also know that he knows I know. Seeing Papa sitting here, almost a hundred years old… Makes me realize that I shouldn’t have met Bucky. He should be in a retirement home right now, married to someone and have a family like my grandparents. Or, if he died, he should’ve been in a happier place now.

_But he is here._

Tears drip over my cheeks and I walk over to papa, wrapping my arms tightly around him. ‘I told him,’ I whisper.

‘Oh, Winnie Bear,’ he says, ‘are you okay?’

‘No,’ I mumble. ‘He went out for a walk and he promised he would come back and I know he will… But… I think it’s true, papa.’

He strokes through my hair, pressing a kiss on my temple. ‘He’ll come back,’ he says, ‘I am positive.’

❀ ❀ ❀

I don’t think I’m worth anything during breakfast. I’m not even in the slightest entertaining. I keep checking my phone, hoping that Bucky would text me or even reply to me, but he doesn’t. I mindlessly scroll through all the pictures. The pictures of _Sergeant Barnes,_ pictures of the two of us my mom made of us at Joe’s Lunchroom, our impromptu photoshoot we had the day we discussed our fake relationship.

It would be a gross understatement when I say that I might be missing him. I miss him dearly.

After breakfast, I get myself ready for the day, as hours slowly seem to pass. I’m back in the treehouse and it’s not easing my mind at all. I try to watch a movie with the awesome projector, but I actually just keep pacing.

I brought it all wrong. No wonder Bucky left. I should’ve brought it up another way. I hear the door creak and I let out a high pitched scream.

‘It’s just me,’ Bucky says, holding up a paper bag. He went to Joe’s Lunchroom? ‘I brought some food, maybe you want something.’

This is such a sweet gesture and with the way I’m making myself absolutely mad, I nearly burst into tears. ‘That’s nice,’ I choke out, blinking my eyes a few times.

‘I hope I didn’t worry you too much,’ he says, placing the bag on the bedside table and walking up to me.

‘Damn it, Bucky,’ I exclaim, ‘I was fucking worried about you.’

He nods. ‘But I promised you I would be back, right?’

I purse my lips together, before I let out a groan of pure frustration. ‘You did. Just feared you wouldn’t.’

He holds out his hand and when I take it, he drags me to the bed and we both sit down. He grabs a packed sandwich and says: ‘Joe told me this was your favorite sandwich.’

‘Thank you,’ I mumble. I wipe away some escaped tears. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t yell at you.’

‘No, don’t you worry about it.’ He kicks off his shoes and takes a bite of his own sandwich. He looks tired and his eyes seem swollen.

Did he cry? I wouldn’t blame him if he did. This is quite something.

‘You want to talk about it?’ Bucky asks me.

‘I do,’ I whisper.

He nods. ‘Well, before we do that, I have to apologize for walking off.’

I shake my head. ‘No, no, don’t do that. You needed to think and you should be able to think about it, especially after what I dumped on you. It was totally unfair to just blurt it out like that.’

‘But you were right,’ Bucky says. ‘Both you and your grandpa.’

I kinda knew that already, but it’s nice to hear some confirmation. ‘Do you want to tell me about it?’

‘I do, Winnie, it’s just that… I never told anyone any of this before. I don’t know where to start.’

I shimmy closer to him and plop myself in between his legs. While this is a lot closer and more intimate than we usually sit, it feels right. ‘How about you start from the beginning? The very beginning.’

Bucky nods and clears his throat. ‘I was born on March tenth, 1917.’


	10. Chapter 10

After telling me a little bit about the family he came from, he moves on to World War two. Part of me wished he told me a bit more about his family, but I could also tell he wasn’t too comfortable to go into a lot of detail. ‘I remember the day I met your grandfather,’ he says, as he leans against the wall with his back, his legs bend as I sit in between them. ‘When he joined the 107th, he was young, nervous and awkward.’ Bucky chuckles, before adding: ‘Come to think of it, you and your grandpa have a lot in common.’

I frown slightly. ‘Really?’

He nods. ‘I met your grandpa on his first day when he arrived at camp. He and other cadets just arrived and when I met up with the four privates, he didn’t salute like the others. He was staring at me, blinked his eyes real fast, before he asked me if I knew where the latrines were, because he needed to pee. “I’m very nervous, you see,” he told me. After I got over over my initial surprise, since that was not the usual way I was addressed, I realized he was nervous and probably the type who would blurt out practically anything. If I was being fair, it was kinda refreshing to see actually. I showed him around and to his tent and while I always wanted to stay professional as a sergeant towards the privates, there was something about him that was different. Made me different. Made me realize that I could have a friend, if that makes sense.’ He lets out a chuckle. ‘You two might not be blood related,’ he says, ‘but you’re a direct copy of each other. And I mean that in the best way possible, Winnie.’

I take a bite of my sandwich, while also smiling. I always kinda knew I was a lot like my grandpa, but to hear that I even inherited my nervous word vomit from him, despite not being blood related, is pretty fun to hear.

Bucky takes a deep breath and clears his throat.

‘You’re doing great,’ I whisper. I lean my elbows on his knees. ‘You need a break?’

‘No, no, I can continue,’ he says. ‘So, I noticed how difficult your grandpa, private Leo Monroe, found this whole war. Being away from home, not knowing what to expect… During our first mission, he couldn’t fall asleep and with his tossing and turning, he was basically alerting every Nazi where we were.’

‘So, you told him to look at the stars,’ I say.

He seems surprised. ‘He told you about that?’

I nod. ‘He told every Monroe about looking at the stars when you couldn’t sleep. When I was younger and I would go to grandpa for a sleepover, I’d fake I couldn’t sleep, so we could sit outside and watch the stars.’

Bucky smiles, as I place the sandwich neatly packed next to me and scoot a little closer. ‘He really did that?’

I smile as I nod. ‘Please, continue.’

Bucky’s fingers mindlessly draw circles on my arm. ‘We became friends. I was close to everyone in the 107th, but there was something about Monroe that… That drew me to him. He became my closest friends, one of the closest I’ve ever had.’ He clears his throat, as he closes his eyes for a brief moment.

‘Are you okay?’ I ask him.

He nods. ‘Anyways, one day however, we were ambushed and captured by Hydra.’

‘What’s Hydra?’ I ask.

‘A Nazi Science Division.’

The color is drained from his face and I place my hands on his cheeks. ‘We can stop,’ I suggest. ‘I get that it might be… Difficult. We can resume later on.’

‘No, no,’ he says, a slight crack in his voice. ‘When we were captured, that included your grandpa, I was taken to the isolation ward, for experimentation. I don’t know how long I’ve spend there, but one day your grandpa is standing next to me. I mean, I heard some noises outside, almost like there were men fighting, but I didn’t expect much of it. However, Leo was next to me, unstrapping me from the restraints. He told me they managed to escape. He somehow forced his lock open and proceeded to do that for the rest. Everyone was outside already, but he went back… It was a long way, the isolation ward, from where he originally was. I still don’t know how Leo managed to find me. He told me he was not leaving this place without me. Not after everything I had done for him, according to him. I was weak and relied on him, as we were escaping from this factory where we were kept, but because of the fights outside, the building slowly crumbled. We managed to get out, but once we were outside, your grandpa got injured.’

‘How?’

‘He never told you?’

I shake my head. ‘Grandpa never talks about the war.’

‘There were people outside with flamethrowers.’

‘Oh,’ I say.

‘Your grandpa jumped in front of me, catching most of the fire. His chest was burned and we couldn’t get the clothing off of him. So when we found the rest of the men, we did our best to keep it as cool as possible. Leo was rushed to the hospital and I discovered pretty soon that he would go back home to the States. I went to his room, before he was transferred back home. I owed my life to him, I realized. I kept telling him he should’ve gone with the rest, leave me be, but he told me that I was like a brother to him. That he couldn’t leave me.’

I detect some tears in his eyes. ‘You’re doing great, Bucky,’ I whisper, folding my fingers together in the back of his neck.

He blinks his eyes and takes a deep breath. ‘I told my lieutenants that if anything happens to me, they should inform him as well, because… He deserved to know, especially after what he did. Anyways, I was part of the Howling Command, a team that would take down Hydra facilities and forces. One day, we were on a train and a gun fight broke out. I don’t quite remember what happened, but I was pushed out of the train and fell hundreds of feet into a ravine.’

Oh my… That must’ve been so scary. ‘That’s what your nightmares were about, right?’

He nods. ‘Yeah. And that’s how I lost my left arm.’

‘But how did you survive that fall? I mean… A few hundred feet?’

‘With what Hydra put in me when I was held captive,’ he says. ‘When I got there… They gave me a new arm and wiped me clean, no memories of who I was, no personality, simply to make me a puppet.’ He swallows hard. ‘A weapon.’

I push his hair behind his ears. ‘What kind of weapon?’

‘They’d freeze me,’ he continues, ‘and would unfreeze me over the course of the next seventy years. I was responsible for dozens of assassinations. They’d call me the Winter Solider. After my jobs, I’d be wiped again and frozen.’ He lets his chin rest on his chest, a deep sigh leaving his lips. ‘I discovered I did terrible things.’

‘But you remember the war,’ I say. ‘If you continued to be wiped, how did you remember that?’

‘I walked passed this memorial stand, honoring different branches of the army during the Second World War,’ he says. ‘I walked passed the 107th and saw names that seemed familiar, including Leo Monroe and my own name, but I didn’t know it was my name yet, James Barnes. I then realized there was something missing. Maybe I was someone, not just a weapon. I managed to escape Hydra and ended up in Wakanda.’

‘That’s a real place?’ I ask.

He smiles. ‘It’s very real, Winnie, you just have to know where to look. I was put in a cryogenic stasis, basically freezing me again, so the people there could find out a way to… Get what Hydra put in there out of me. They reversed the brainwashing and I remembered me, my old friends, the things I did in the war.’

‘When was that? When you remembered everything?’

‘Two years ago,’ he says.

‘Do you remember who you… assassinated?’

Bucky nods. ‘Every single one of them. I wake up feeling guilty every single day.’

‘Can you ever get into that state of mind?’ I ask. ‘The Winter Soldier state of mind?’

He shrugs. ‘There are words they would say before a mission. Words that would activate it, when said in combination. Back in Wakanda it didn’t work anymore, but I haven’t tried it once I moved back here. I’m too scared to try it out. I might be cured, but you never know what can happen.’

‘Could you kill now?’

He shakes his head. ‘No, I can’t. I’m not a killer. While I’m cured and the stuff Hydra put in me is gone, I still have those side effects, you know. Enhanced reflexes, strength, speed.’

‘Ability to deal with heat,’ I say.

Bucky lets out a short chuckle. ‘That too.’ His smile disappears as quickly as it came. His eyes fill with tears again and now they roll over his cheeks.

‘Come here,’ I whisper, wrapping my arms around his shoulder. ‘It’s okay.’

‘Is it?’ he asks me.

‘It is.’

He pulls me closer to his body and says: ‘When I came back from Wakanda, I looked for my family, for whoever would be alive, but then I remembered they all thought I was dead. I should live a low profile life and not bother them, or anyone else. But I found my youngest brother last year, but he was already… He was blind and became deaf now too.’

‘Must’ve been hard,’ I say, ‘seeing everyone grown older, except you.’

‘It was.’

‘What were you thinking when you saw my grandpa?’

‘I recognized him right away. It’s something in his eyes. He might’ve grown older, but he was still the same Leo Monroe. It broke my heart to see him like that. Recognizing me, saluting, while I’m supposed to be dead.’

‘I think you should tell this to my grandpa,’ I say.

‘I think so too and I will.’

I pull back a little, looking Bucky in the eye. ‘I’m gonna sound really sappy, but bear with me, please: I’m proud of you, Bucky. This mustn’t been easy. Especially after everything you went through.’

He shakes his head. ‘Don’t do this, Winnie.’

‘Don’t do what?’ I ask him.

‘Sympathy.’

I don’t understand. ‘Why not?’

‘Because I don’t deserve it. I lied to you.’

‘You didn’t lie to me. You were starting over,’ I tell him. ‘Bucky, you are not the Winter Soldier. You’re cured, you told me so yourself.’

‘That still doesn’t change the fact that I did it.’

‘I know,’ I say, ‘but that was not you. That was not the Bucky Barnes I know. That was not the same man who Lia has wrapped around her finger. That is not the man who gave me his hoodie. That is not the man who endures me and my obsession with movies, nor the man who literally went with me to Oregon so I wouldn’t be single in front of my family. Again.’

He nods slowly.

‘So, I’d really like you to be my friend, even when we leave Oregon.’

‘You do?’

‘I do, Bucky, I really do.’ I smile. ‘But thank you for telling me this.’

‘You are quite something, Winnie,’ he admits. ‘I just told you this sci-fi kinda story and you… You are you.’

I nod. ‘Yeah, lucky you. It’s all my grandpa, actually. If he hadn’t forced me to go get those pictures, I’d probably driven him to the nut house and never gave you the opportunity to tell me about this.’

He lets out a soft chuckle. ‘I’ll go talk to him, once I composed myself again.’

‘How about you two go somewhere private?’ I suggest. ‘Maybe near the lake.’

‘I can take him there.’

‘You can go there already and I’ll bring him to you. If you want that of course.’

Bucky nods. ‘Yeah, could you do that?’

‘Of course.’ I think about it for a second, before I lean towards him and press a kiss on his cheek. I want to pull back, but he presses his lips on mine. It feels desperate, like he needs this. Almost like he needs me.

‘I don’t deserve you,’ Bucky whispers against my lips. ‘I don’t deserve you as… As a friend.’

‘You do,’ I say. ‘You deserve friends, Bucky. Old ones and new ones.’

❀ ❀ ❀

Bucky and my grandfather have been sitting by the lake for a good hour now. I think they tell each other stories they haven’t told me. That’s okay, though. I think it’s good that I don’t know anything. Some things are supposed to be for friends’ ears only. For people who were there when it happened.

I sit at the large table outside and watch as Bucky wraps his arms around my grandpa’s fragile shoulders.

‘So,’ Brie says, sitting in front of me, snapping me out my—pretty rude—stare, ‘tell me, whose idea was it to fake this relationship?’

Will she ever let this go? ‘This isn’t a fake relationship,’ I say.

Brie cocks an eyebrow. ‘Oh come on, Winter Monroe,’ she says. ‘I know you. We’ve been in the same class _literally_ since pre school and even after school you and I were practically always together. That Monroe tradition, that kiss, I could see it in your eyes and your stiff body language: you had never kissed this man before.’ She lets out a laugh. ‘I wish I had it on film, so we could discuss it and I could provide you with examples of my theory.’

‘Shut up,’ I grumble. I feel like she will never let this go and she’ll figure it out one way our another. ‘Okay, okay, it’s fake. You happy now?’

She smiles. ‘Delighted. Another question: why on earth would you fake a relationship?’ she asks.

‘Because,’ I say, ‘I heard that Robbie got engaged. I didn’t want to be the single one again. I wanted to show everyone that I could be in a relationship. I wanted to make people jealous, I wanted to make you jealous.’

‘Why on earth would you want to make me jealous?’

‘Haven’t you seen your life? It’s everything I ever wanted and don’t have.’

Brie scoffs. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Richard and I… We’re going to relationship therapy. I’m literally taking classes because I don’t know shit about raising a child. His parents absolutely despise me. I don’t do shit with my degree. Believe me, you don’t want that.’

I did not know any of that… ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Brie.’

‘You don’t need to fake a relationship to fit in, Winnie. If you continue to be yourself, we accept and love you no matter what.’

Since when is she the wise one of the Monroe bunch? ‘I know that,’ I mumble.

‘Then why did you fake a relationship?’

‘Because I told my mom over the phone I had a boyfriend. I didn’t want to come clean to her.’

Brie nods. ‘Well, maybe you don’t need to. You two are head over heels with one another anyways.’

I contain a gasp, but it nearly escapes. ‘No, we’re not,’ I quickly say, not trying to think about the kiss we shared in the treehouse.

‘Oh come on, don’t be daft,’ she exclaims. ‘You can maybe fake a relationship, but you can’t fake what you two have. Have you seen the way he looks at you?’ Brie rolls her eyes and says: ‘No, of course not, you’re absolutely oblivious to those kinds of things. This man looks at you in such an adoring way. When you eat, when you talk, when you laugh. You could literally pick your nose and eat it, and he still would have this very nauseating half smirk on his face and look at you. He forgets everyone else, because Bucky only has eyes for you.’

I feel my cheeks heat up. ‘That’s not true. He likes me as a friend, that’s all.’

‘I can’t believe you actually said that. You have to tell him how much you like him, how much you care about him and that you are falling in love with him. If you don’t let him in on your feelings, neither will he.’

‘You sure you are the one in need of relationship therapy?’ I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

‘Ha-ha very funny.’ She lets out a chuckle. ‘But to answer your question, it’s not me who needs it. It’s totally Richard, of course.’ She leans forward, as she places her underarms on the table. ‘So, you go tell Bucky you like him and want him to be your actual boyfriend and I’ll keep your little secret.’

And if I don’t do that, she’ll figure that out as well and probably tattletale to my entire family. When I least expect it of course, because that is Brie. ‘I hate you,’ I say.

‘No, you love me, I know that.’ She blows me a kiss. ‘Now tell me, have you made Hilly and Coco jealous already?’

❀ ❀ ❀

Tomorrow is the memorial for uncle Jacob. The kids made something to place near his grave, Bucky arranged some flowers he picked from the garden and the rest will provide us with the drinks and food, while I suggested I would clean it up a bit.

After what Brie told me, I realized that maybe I do like him more than a friend. I sit on the windowsill of the treehouse, when Bucky walks in. We decided we would call it a night early, but he figured we needed some snacks as we would probably watch a movie. ‘I brought chocolate and soda,’ he says.

Grandpa and Bucky talked for two solid hours and they eventually ushered me over. I sat in between them and while it might’ve been weird, I actually quite enjoyed hearing stories of them in the war. Of them being friends. I could see how a weight has been lifted off of Bucky’s shoulder.

A weight I wasn’t aware he carried with him.

But I’m in a spilt situation now. My grandfather gave Bucky his blessing for dating me,while he doesn’t know that this relationship is fake. Brie on the other hand, is aware this is a fake relationship, but not that Bucky… Is over a hundred years old, to put it like that.

It would break papa’s heart if he found out we broke up. I cannot fake an entire relationship until he passes away.

Right?

‘Bucky,’ I say to him, sliding off the windowsill and walking over to the bed. I get under the covers with him. ‘I have a confession.’

He looks at me sideways. ‘Okay.’

‘I told Brie you’re my fake boyfriend.’

He frowns. ‘Why? I thought you wanted especially her to believe you had a boyfriend.’

‘True, but she figured it out.’

‘Oh,’ he says. ‘So, that comment she made when she arrived…’

‘Yeah, she knew all along and our Monroe tradition kiss gave it all away. I’ll take the blame for that one. Anyways, that wasn’t my confession, though.’ I look at my hands that are in my lap. ‘I don’t want us to break up when we leave Oregon.’

Very good, Winnie. Rip that bandage off quickly.

‘What?’ Bucky asks.

Pull off that other bandage, you can do it. ‘I am falling in love with you, Bucky,’ I say to him.

He doesn’t say anything. That is really bad… He places his hand on mine. _Oh, is that a good sign?_ ‘You know, Winnie,’ he says, ‘my entire life ended in the midst of the war, except I never got closure. It was like my life was paused the moment Hydra took me a second time. I realize that I should be where your granddad is right now, but I’m not. Now I’m growing older and… I want to grow older with you. Not as your friend, but as your boyfriend. Your real boyfriend.’

I look up. Is he saying what I think he is saying? ‘What?’

‘I might’ve fallen in love with you too. A lot even.’

‘Really?’ I let out a chuckle. ‘I confessed my feelings to someone and it’s… _Mutual_?’ That’s a first…

‘Of course it’s mutual,’ he chuckles. ‘Come on, I liked you the second you and I were in front of our neighbor’s door. When you cut my hair the next day, I cursed myself for not being more polite to you. Winnie, why do you even think I agreed on this fake dating thing?’ He answers his own rhetorical question: ‘Because I liked you a lot, or, as they say in the movies: I was totally crushing on you.’

I smile. ‘I maybe liked you too before this trip, but wasn’t aware. I’m just not very in touch with my feelings.’

‘Took me decades to kinda master it,’ he jokingly says.

I scoot a little closer to him and wrap my arms around his waist. ‘You’re stuck with not only me, but a lot of Monroes.’

‘I know,’ he says. ‘But thankfully that’s a gift.’ He lets out a content sigh. I pull back a little and give him a peck on his jaw. He smiles, leaning in the give me a proper kiss on my lips.

It’s our first kiss as a real couple, I think to myself, as I melt against his strong frame. ‘You know I’m never gonna stop kissing you?’ he asks.

‘Well, you won’t hear me complaining.’

❀ ❀ ❀

 **Winnie:** Okay, it’s official.

 **Winnie:** Bucky and I are dating 🥰

 **Winnie:** Real dating this time

 **Chrissy:** YAAAAY IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWOOOOOO!!

 **Julia:** About damn time, woman!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter for this story. i had a lot of fun writing and thanks for reading it 🥰

‘Are you actually, one hundred percent, sure you want this?’ I ask Bucky one last time, as I place my hands on his shoulders, looking at him through the mirror.

I’m met with a loving smile as he nods. ‘I am one hundred percent sure about this.’

‘But I really like your long hair,’ I whine, running my fingers through his locks. ‘Please, baby, just keep it like this. Your long hair looks so good on you and is very convenient during certain bedroom activities.’ I wrap my arms around his neck, pressing multiple kisses on his cheek. ‘Please, for me,’ I whisper.

‘While that does sound very tempting,’ he says, ‘I want it short and I want you to cut it. I only trust you with my hair.’

Okay, he knows his way to flatter this idea into my heart. ‘Fine, fine, fine,’ I say, walking towards the bathroom sink to lay out my equipment. ‘I’m just gonna miss your long hair,’ I say one more time. ‘Can you promise me that one day you’re gonna grow it out again?’

‘I promise,’ he smiles, ‘for you, darling. I just need to cut it now, you know?’

I know that and I know that very well He thought about it for so long and I do think it’s good for him.

Before we left Oregon to go back to Brooklyn, I taught my grandfather how to use FaceTime. Ever since we got back, the two of them FaceTime every other day and it’s quite endearing to see, especially because Papa still having some issues (for example placing the giant iPad near his ear, because for a few moments he thought he was calling Bucky).

For the remaining part of our trip, the kids would sleep in the treehouse with us, as we watched a lot of movies. Bucky and papa grew a lot closer and while the family thought they were talking about Bucky’s great uncle, in reality they were reminiscing. I drove back to grandpa’s home, this time with Bucky, and we restored the box, minus the pictures, since papa wanted Bucky to have them.

Everything Bucky ever owned from before and during the war, was gone and this was the last piece of past he had left.

Everyone fell even more in love with Bucky during the trip and I do have to admit: being actually boyfriend and girlfriend together felt so much better and even Brie had to admit that we were meant to be.

Leaving Oregon was just as hard as usual, but unlike other times, I am now looking for hair salons in Oregon for me to work at and florists for Bucky. While I know I am not going to live in Eugene (too many bad memories there, I don’t want to run into people I’ve known my entire life on a daily basis), Portland however seems to have many opportunities for the both of us. It only takes an hour and a half by car to visit my family, which is better than the dreading plane ride, including me selling my vital organs to to pay for it.

When we got back, Bucky sold his apartment and moved into mine and honestly, it was the easiest move I’ve ever experienced. While at first glance, people wouldn’t recommend moving in this early, not having him around my apartment just felt weird. I actually would miss him being useless in my kitchen and eat my pies hot from the oven.

The picture of him and my grandfather in the Second World War is placed in the living room and after he stared at it longer and longer, the more certain he was to leave his found image behind: for a while, he didn’t want to look into the mirror and see his long locks, reminding him of the Winter Soldier days. He wanted to look back on the days where he was truly himself.

And that means a haircut. While I might not like it, I should not come in between him and his path to recovery and acceptance.

_It’s just that I really liked his long hair._

But I’m actually very glad he only trusts me with cutting his hair. Imagine the betrayal I would feel if he chose someone else.

After I cut off large pieces of his beautiful locks, I grab a clipper and try to recreate his older look. I circle around him and with a pair of scissors I try to get some pieces right in the front. Normally I would break my back in an uncomfortable stance, but now I plop on Bucky’s lap.

‘I sure hope this is a special treatment only for me,’ he says, as he places his hands on my hips.

I pretend to think about that. ‘No, I have a few other clients. Very handsome men around their forties, who could totally get it.’

‘Not funny,’ Bucky mumbles, before pressing a kiss on my nose.

I can’t help but get a little giggly. We might be dating for two months, sometimes it’s still strange to comprehend that he is my boyfriend. My _actual_ boyfriend.

After I grab some gel, to put certain locks in place, I actually am very satisfied with the result. ‘All done.’ I step off of his lap and brush some hairs from his shirt. ‘You look so handsome.’

‘You like it?’ Bucky asks, standing up and leaning over the bathroom sink, to closely examine himself in the mirror.

‘I love it,’ I say. ‘What do you think? I mean, it’s your hair and it’s on your head.’

‘I adore it,’ he admits, grabbing my hand with his metal one. When we’re out and about, he still wears his glove, no matter how hot it is, but as soon as we’re in the safe space of our place, he quickly takes it off. I like how he slowly but surely is growing more and more comfortable around me. The first two weeks, he was hesitant about showing me his arm, but nowadays he simply walks around the place shirtless and doesn’t mind me tracing my finger over the sport where his arm and skin meet.

‘Thank you, darling,’ he says with a kind smile, one that I adored already, but now can barely live without. ‘How do I thank you?’

‘Usually I would charge around thirty dollars for a haircut like this, but I think you and I can arrange a special deal.’

‘Yeah?’ Bucky says, pulling me closer by my hips. ‘What’s does this special deal entail?’

‘Maybe… Something in the bedroom?’ While I see a very cocky smile appear on his face, I add: ‘Maybe you could help me clean out my closet. I desperately need to get rid of some stuff.’

‘I have a better idea,’ Bucky chuckles, lifting me up with one arm before throwing me over his shoulder.

‘Buck, put me down.’

‘Nope.’

He drops me on my bed and I let out a slight squeal. ‘What’s your better plan, Bucky Barnes?’ I ask him with a smile.

‘That I’m gonna show you that those _certain_ _bedroom activities_ you mentioned, can still be done with shorter hair.’ He quickly takes off his shirt and crawls on the bed, caging me underneath his strong frame. Right before his lips touch mine, we’re interrupted.

_By a high pitched female moan._

‘Really?’ Bucky groans.

‘214 has a date again?’ I ask him, referring to our neighbor who apparently brought someone back to his apartment. ‘I haven’t heard him in forever.’

‘That’s supposed to be a good thing,’ he deadpans.

‘I think it’s someone different this time,’ I mention. I chuckle, as I wrap my arms around his neck. ‘It’s how we met, remember?’

He chuckles. ‘Yeah, I remember.’

‘How about,’ I suggest, ‘we give him a little taste of his own medicine? I mean, what they can do, we can do better, right?’

‘What is it with you and that desperate need to make other people jealous with what we have?’

‘Call it a defect,’ I say. ‘Besides, don’t give me that attitude. You love it too.’

He smiles. ‘Yeah, you’re absolutely right.’ Bucky presses a long kiss on my lips, but when we hear the headboard against the wall, mixed with moans and grunts, he gets off of me. ‘I can’t handle this,’ he grumbles, grabbing his shirt from the floor and pulling it over his head.

I smile, seeing the annoyed glance in his eyes.

He grabs a hoodie and a glove and puts in on. ‘I’ll be back, darling,’ he says.

‘I’ll be right here.’

Bucky can’t help but let out a chuckle. He walks over to the side of the bed and gives me a long kiss. ‘I love you, Winnie.’

Maybe this is still our honeymoon phase, maybe it’s how we really are gonna be. _Forever_. I waited thirty years to find the man of my dreams. I am not letting this man go.

Also, breaking up with him, would also severely hurt my grandpa and I don’t think I am ready for that.

‘I love you too, Bucky. Forever and ever.’


End file.
